Guardians of Darkness
by catcoello
Summary: Featuring guest appearances by: Atheon, Time's Conflux and The Black Heart. Rated M just to be safe.
1. Chapter 1: The beginning

**I don't own Destiny. Activision and Bungie do. All I own is what you're reading here. Pls no sue k thanks. Also, thank you Word for spellchecking my shit for me. Lifesaver right there.**

[Actual story begins below.]

Atheon was bored. Why? No one was playing his raid anymore. Then again, it had been over 4 years since his raid was first introduced. Those had been the good days, the days when he would watch squad after squad jump off the ledge after two of their members had been killed. Over time, however, they had gotten more efficient, killing him in less and less time. On top of that, they got better weapons and armor, which lead to him and his minions being killed even faster. He would always respawn though, because if the Guardians wanted to truly kill him they would have to annihilate the entirety of the Vault of Glass. They never would, as the Vault extended deep into the heart of Venus. In short, no matter how many times they did the Raid, he would always be there, sitting at his Glass Throne.

But this posed a problem. He was immortal but he didn't have anyone to talk to, really. Sure, there were the Templar and Gorgons, but they had run out of things to chat about as well. They were bored too. And don't get me started on all the Goblins, Hob-gobs, Harpies and Minotaurs there as well. Long story short, everyone in the damn Vault was bored out of their minds. The fanatics don't count, since they're just mindless suicide bombers.

"Yo Templar, you seeing anyone on your end?"

"Nope. Just me and my Vex minions, sitting around… doing nothing… like we've been doing for the past few years."

One of the Gorgons chirped up. "Why don't we just leave the Vault? After all, it's not like there are that many Guardians on Venus anyways, what with Destiny 2 giving a big fat fuck you to D1's planets."

A general wave of disapproval from his compatriots.

Another Gorgon. "Well, why don't we just assimilate the Guardians into our network? Sure, they might die, but the reward is a possibly infinite amount of interesting stuff to experience."

Yet another Gorgon spoke up, berating the previous one. "You fuckin' idjit. Guardians are what make this interesting. We kill them, no one's gonna oppose us. The Fallen are too scared to try and enter our Vault, the Cabal are on another planet altogether, and those god damn Hive are absolute idiots."

"That's cause we kill 'em before we try to understand 'em. If we tried to talk to them, we'd probably find they're a funny bunch. Overly religious, but funny."

"Speaking of funny stuff, remember how the Guardians had to sneak around us whenever they got to our sector of the Raid? They forgot we could hear regular steps too. But D1 game logic required us to not turn around even when a Guardian was inching along right behind us."

"Don't you think it would've been too hard on them if you turned around every time you thought you heard something?" Atheon countered.

"Even still…" the Gorgon left the sentence hanging, his meaning clear. The Templar was about to give his two-cents on the matter but got interrupted by a Praetorian. "Uuhhh, boss? We've got a Guardian right outside the Vault, and she's about to start generating the Spire. The Guardian also has a Hive signature integrated on it. Should me and my bros [the other Praetorians] take the other sync plates and stop her?"

Atheon berated the smaller Minotaur heavily. "No you fucking dolt! This is the first Guardian we've had in _years!_ Why would you want to delay her from coming in?"

"Because of the Hive signature?"

The massive Vex sighed, disappointment permeating the air around him. "That's just another reason to open the Vault! I wanna see what she looks like with my own two eyes."

The Praetorian nodded, cutting the connection as Atheon turned his attention to the Templar. "I want your Vex to move that Relic outside of time, preferably in your pocket dimension. Then, as soon as that Guardian's in your range, I want you to teleport her to my Glass Throne so we can have a little chat. Gorgons, get out of your little maze and fly your glowing asses over to me. If she tries to summon any Hive I want you to be ready to Gorgon's Gaze the shit outta them at a moment's notice.

Not even a split second later, the overpowered Harpies teleported into his sector, stopping in front of, next to and behind the Vex time lord. "And now," Atheon muttered, excitement coursing through every word. "We wait."

[Line Break]

The Guardian trotted down the steps towards the Templar's Well, her Ghost floating after her. She was wearing the [Harrowed Chasm of Yuul], [Deathsinger's Grips], [Transversive Steps] and a [Stormcaller Bond], with a [Deathsinger's Gaze] clipped to her waist. Even from a distance, you'd see that the armor wasn't normal. Everything, from the leg armor to the bond had green cracks, veins and divots all over it, along with small spikes of the same color. Rivers of Ascendant energy flowed freely across her. The [Transversive Steps] looked especially off. Where the holographic shards once were blue, now it was green.

[tl;dr] Picture the Crota's End armor with ornaments, but spikier, glow-ier and greener. As for her Ghost, just use the Ascendant Shell.

As for weaponry, she had [The Continental], [Thorn] and [Hunger of Crota]. All the weapons looked like her armor, in the sense that they were spiked with green cracks/veins of Ascendant energy running through them. I've got all stats at the bottom of the page.

[The Continental] tight in her grasp, the duo hopped down deeper into the Vault. "Drel, do you really think that the Vex'll stop firing just so that we can tell them our plan? I doubt they'll listen for a second."

"If it comes to it, we'll just kill them all and open the portal ourselves," Drel replied nonchalantly. "The only other outcome I can think of is us dying, and I can't see that happening anytime soon."

"Even still, I really don't thi—"

The Ghost stopped, shell whirring around it. Drel stopped, turning to look back at her companion. "Ira? What's wrong?"

Ira, as the Ghost was called, clicked a few times before rejoining the Warlock. "Nothing… I though I detected a massive horde of Vex all around us…"

"The last time you thought something and didn't follow up on it we were ambushed by a fireteam of Guardians," Drel replied, obviously irked by said ambush. "Get to scanning, Ira. If anything's in here I want to know about it yesterday."

Ira stopped just short of making a time joke, instead following Drel's directions. The Warlock fingered her rifle's trigger warily, glancing around every few seconds, moving slowly as if to examine every crack in the ground. When they finally reached the Well, a voice filled her head, tripping her up and almost making her fall off the platform. "Drel. Chill out. I just finished scanning and there's nothing in here. At least, nothing that I can detect anyway."

"Somehow that doesn't make me feel any better," the Guardian replied apprehensively, giving the area a full 360. "And don't scare me like that again. I almost fell off the fucking edge thanks to that."

No apologies were received, but Drel didn't notice. What she did notice was an odd set of blue balls hanging from the ceiling near the back wall. They were glowing slightly, and seemed to be tracking her every move. "Hey Ira?" she asked, a dash of uncertainty on her words. "What're those blue balls right over there?"

"Balls? What ba— oh… those balls. Get me closer and I'll find out."

As she got closer, the air seemed to poke at her, almost like static. Drel ignored it and continued forward. Her Ghost appeared in a poof of green light and flew towards the mysterious balls. Not even half a second later he was tearing back towards her, his green eye filled with panic. "THAT'S THE TEMPLAR! HE'S RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU! GET BACK NOW!"

In the split second it took for her to process this, the platform around them disappeared, replaced with an open room surrounded by silicon. As for Drel, she was surrounded by Gorgons. "Oy, Guardian. The boss would like to speak to ya. If you would follow me, please?"

Seeing as they had no choice Drel and Ira accompanied the glowing Harpies as they traveled towards the Glass Throne, towards Atheon, Time's Conflux. One 15 minute walk of silence later, Atheon stood before her, white eye almost blinding the duo. "So, a lone Guardian carrying a Hive signature comes down into my Vault for… what, exactly?" the Vex asked, suspicious. Why would a Guardian come here alone? And one who seemed to be part Hive, if his hypothesis was right. It was all a bit strange to him. Ira answered, "We want to use one of your portals and go back in time. Back between the end of D1 vanilla and The Dark Below."

Atheon tilted his head, perplexed. "You want to go back there? Where Thorn users ran rampant and the Mythoclast was the OG Promethean Lens?"

"Yep," came a completely serious reply, this time from Drel. "We've got a job to do, and if we fail, we die. Plain and simple."

Atheon considered it for a few seconds, agreed, then gave them a condition. "Let me and my Vex come with you."

Silence reigned supreme for a few seconds, only being broken by Ira's confounded voice. "Did I hear that correctly? You want to come with us?"

"Well, yeah. We've been stuck in this Vault for 4 and some years. Believe it or not, even Vex time lords get bored," Atheon countered, slightly irritated.

"And why didn't you leave the Vault before-hand?" Ira asked, the Couldn't you have just made a clone of yourself or something?"

"If I even took one step outside, the entire Tower would be on my ass in less than a second, along with every other species in this system. But since I'm going through time, I can leave without any worries. Once we go, the Vault'll still be here, but empty. Forever closed off from this timeline." A low grumble came from Atheon. "I'll kind of miss this place... Oh, right. Fun fact: I won't be able to go into past me's Vault. That'll cause the place to collapse, and time will start to unravel."

"How the fuck'll that happen?"

"If I go into past me's Vault, we'll both disintegrate. And since time converges on us, once there's no point to converge on the threads of time will become undone. There is one way to stop this, but I've only got in it's theory stage right now."

"Oh yeah," Drel groaned. "Everyone knows who you are in The Dark Below since the expansion didn't really add all to that much content. Can you change your appearance or something? 'Cause if not, you're fucked once we reach our destination."

"I have a solution to that," Atheon said cryptically.

"One last thing. Me and Ira aren't the only ones coming with you. We're going to be joined by my friend Gray and one other person, if things go right."

Atheon didn't mind. In fact, he wanted more people to come with him. It would be more to observe and experience. He didn't say anything though, nodding in place of words. 'That was easier than I thought it would be,' Ira said over their mental link. 'Then again, they've been locked in here for around 4 years.'

'You sound like you'd act differently,' Drel retorted.

'I wouldn't, but still. Way too easy.'

Drel acknowledged this with a nod, distracted by a white light flashing in the corner of her eye. The Templar had teleported next to her, shields down. "You have a Hive signature, and yet you look like a regular Awoken. No offense, but what are you?"

The Guardian chuckled, amused by the Templar's little apology. "None taken, but I'd rather not talk about what I had to go through to be like this. I wouldn't have it any other way, though. Can't you just look through time and see what happened?"

"We can only see the past and future of the Vault," the Hydra explained. "If we wanted to see outside of that we'd have to expand the Vault to include the Hellmouth, and that ain't happening any time soon. And even if we did, you obviously don't want to talk about it, so I won't push ya to tell me."

Drel opened her mouth to thank the Vex when Atheon butt in. "Ok, so the portal might reject you since you're part Hive. To prevent that, I'd need you to drink some of my very own radiolarian fluid. Where did it come from, you ask? My own veins. Side effects may include turning into a Vex hybrid, serious brain damage or death."

He handed her a bottle of radiolaria. She looked up at him, suspicious. "You say it like it's a prescription commercial. Also, why would I want to drink your blood?"

"Just fucking drink it. And save this for your friend," he said, giving her another. Before she could grab it, Ira appeared, placing the container in their inventory. Atheon watched with amazement as the vial disintegrated in his hand. "Ok, that's kinda creepy. Do it again."

"Later. Maybe," the Ghost replied, and Atheon just barely detected a twinge of amusement. All heads snapped to the middle of the room, however, as a black portal appeared, similar to the ones found on Oryx's Dreadnaught. Drel shot up, her auto-rifle snapping towards the black wormhole. "How can the Taken still get in here even if you're around?"

Atheon and the other Vex ignored her, instead staring at the portal with what could be called reverence. "That's not a Taken portal. That's Vex-made. Only one Mind can do that kinda thing, and she usually never exits the Black Garden. That same Mind also happens to be my boss."

"Wait. You have a superior?" Ira asked, incredulous. "You're a literal time lord, how could someone be better than you?"

The Templar turned to Ira, his white eye seeming to penetrating the Ghost's green one. "Rack your brain for a second. What other gods do the Vex have?"

It took the duo a second to figure out who the Hydra was talking about, but when it clicked, they groaned. "I thought you said that thing had died permanently!"

"Yeah, that's what I said, but reality begs to differ."

Two beings appeared before them, the portal closing immediately after. Both were Exos. One had Hive armor all over him, the other was completely made of Vex parts. Both had massive tendrils of Darkness radiating off them. "If I'm not mistaken," Ira said quietly, "that's the Black Garden's Heart standing there holding Gray's arm. Why is it holding Gray's arm?"

Atheon turned to her, obviously confused. Ira proceeded to un-confuse him. "Oh, Gray's the buddy Drel mentioned before. I thought he'd come back with Protheon or Brakion, hell, even Panoptes or Argos, but not the Heart."

The female Exo yelled something in Vex Binary, which translated roughly into, "You got somethin' against me Ira?"

Ira was taken aback, his shell twitching slightly. 'How does she… it… whatever the Heart is, know my name?'

'Gray must've told her about us, obviously,' Drel deadpanned. Her Ghost noted the use of the pronoun and the deadpanning. 'Why he did that, I have no idea, but nothing we can do about it now.'

The male Exo, Gray, walked up to the Warlock. He appeared unconcerned about the legion of Vex surrounding them. "We ready to roll Drel?"

The Warlock's green eyes bored into him, wanting to know what had happened in the Black Garden. "Yeah, but you've got quite a bit of explaining to do when we get to the past."

Gray sighed, his mouth glowing slightly. "It's kind of a long story. I'll try and explain it the best I can in the next chapter."

 **A|N: Hoo boi. My first attempt as writing fanfiction. I really need to get this out of my head. Hopefully it turns out alright. To anyone reading this, I hope you liked it. If you didn't, then tell me what I did wrong, 'cause I'm pretty sure I did at least one thing wrong. Life sometimes be like that to me.**

 **If you want to visualize my OCs, I've got some pointers. Gray is eyeless with black skin, a yellow mouth, straps on his head (look it up and you'll see what I mean) and a yellow spray across his face. Drel has light blue skin, deep eyes and purple hair. If I mentioned her eye color being different somewhere in this chapter tell me so I can fix it. I've got OC stats below.**

 **Name: Drel.**

 **Age: Unknown [Estimated to be 24].**

 **Height: 5' 9"**

 **Class: Warlock.**

 **Armor [remember: they all have more extreme versions of their ornaments]—**

 **Helmet: Deathsinger's Gaze.**

 **Gauntlets: Deathsinger's Grips.**

 **Warlock Bond: Stormcaller Bond.**

 **Chest Armor: Harrowed Chasm of Yuul.**

 **Leg Armor: Transversive Steps.**

 **Ghost Shell: Ascendant Shell.**

 **Artifact: None.**

 **Weapons [in terms of looks, are similar to the armor]—**

 **Primary: The Continental.**

 **Secondary: Thorn.**

 **Heavy: Hunger of Crota.**

 **Sparrow: [TBA]**

 **Ship: Ceres Galliot.**

[Line break]

 **Name: Gray**

 **Age: Unknown.**

 **Height: 6' 6"**

 **Class: Hunter.**

 **Literally anything else about the man: [TBA].**


	2. Some Backstory and A New Party Member!

**A/N: New chapter. Couldn't really write that much because finals is coming up. That is all...**

 **[Line Break]**

1 hour before the end of the previous chapter…

The Black Heart was bored, even more so than Atheon. She was part of a story mission, and no one did those more than once unless they had lost or it was a daily heroic. Her Vex kneeled before her, silent as usual, irritating her to no end. "Holy shit, why's it so damn quiet?!"

"I would recommend you stay still," the Undying Mind said, flitting around the black blob. "You're still quite broken from when that Guardian almost killed you."

"No need to fucking remind me," the Heart snarled, making the Undying Mind flinch away. They both remembered the day when a lone Guardian entered her Garden, killed her Sol Progeny and nearly annihilated her from existence. You know the deal here: Revenge. If she could get back at the Guardian who had put her in this pitiful shape, she would. Slowly, cruelly, and painfully. She was jerked out of her hate-filled thoughts her Vex began to move, twisting their bodies around to look up towards the entrance to the Garden's Heart. "It appears we have a visitor," the Undying Mind said, still floating around the Heart. "Although I would not recommend you try and kill this Exo. It has a signature identical to yours."

"Is it the same one who crippled me all those years ago?" the Heart asked, partially ignoring the Mind.

The Hydra shook its head. "It is a different Guardian, although I don't know why a Guardian would have Darkness flowing off it in waves…"

This intrigued her. The Heart turned to look at the intruder… and froze. This one… was dangerous. Even more so than the Guardian who had mangled her, and that was saying something. He had armor packed with Ascendant energy, along with tendrils of Darkness radiating off him. Every step he took towards her increased the pressure she was feeling. 'Fuck… this guy's strong. Too strong…' Suddenly she recognized a stream of particles that were emanating from the Exo. 'There's only one being I know of that can do this kinda thing, and it's not me. Goddammit Oryx, what the hell did you do to this guy?!'

The Exo stopped abruptly and just stared up at her. The silence was unbearable, so she decided to break it. "What the fuck do you want? Are you here to kill me? Or are you just gonna stand there like a mute retard?"

"Ok, that actually kinda hurt," the Exo said. "And no, I'm not here to kill you. I'm here to give you a chance to go on an adventure."

His request was met with a scoff. "Me? Leave the Black Garden? I don't know if you've noticed yet but I'm kind of crippled here."

"I know that," he replied, irritation edging his words. "But I have the ability to fix you. I'm sure you've already noticed my… unique signature."

"Oh yeah… what the fuck did Oryx do to make you look like…that? Actually, the better question is, why exactly did you want to abandon the Light and become a servant of that Hive-God?"

"Simple," the Exo said, clasping his hand together. "I wanted more power." He felt a strange energy radiating off the Heart after he finished his sentence. It almost felt like… confusion? If so, then he would explain. "When I first started out as a Guardian, I felt… strong. Like I could do anything with the Light. Me killing practically anything that came my way didn't exactly help my ego to shrink either. But all that changed when I met Randal."

He chuckled wistfully. "That motherfucker… I thought I could kill him like all the others… but the only thing I got out of it was a missing arm, a broken leg and a near-crushed chest. I wouldn't've gotten out alive if a fireteam of Light Level 400 guardians hadn't taken him on, allowing me to escape. As I transmatted onto my ship, I took a look back to see that six Guardians had unloaded everything they had on the man, to no avail. 'How the hell did he get so strong,' I wondered. 'And could I get that tough myself.'"

"Over the years I fought against countless powerful beings. Omnigul, Crota, Atheon, Kandorak, to name a few. But that wasn't enough for me, so I tested my strength in the Crucible… and got annihilated. Over and over again I was bested by someone tougher, faster and more experienced than me. Skip to around a year later, and I was the Tower's second-best Guardian, both in the field and in the Crucible. The city's morale was at an all-time high, and an agreement between the Reef and the City was rumored to be in production."

"You said you were in second," the Heart interrupted. She was interested to see where the conversation was going. "Who was in first?"

"A Warlock named Drel. She was a nightmare out in the field, and even more so in the Crucible. She was so strong that eventually no one wanted to play against her, especially in Rumble. You'd just see her tearing through anyone she encountered with a grin on her face." He shivered at the memory. "Naturally, since I wanted to get stronger I decided to have a 1v1 against her, as a test of my own strength and to see how far off I was from her."

"It was staggering, to say the least. I got scars from that battle. Fucking scars! Exos aren't supposed to scar! Probably the only thing stopping her from killing us was her Ghost, Ira, the fuckin' bastard." He sighed, not to calm himself down, but to pause before he got riled up. "After the fight, I asked her if I could train under her. To my surprise, and apparently that of everyone else in the Tower, she said yes. Apparently she had gotten quite a lot of requests to teach Guardians how to fight but rejected them all."

"Remember when I said skip a year? That year was the most painful, horrific and torturous year I'd ever had in my life, and I've gotten ripped apart by Thrall swarms more times than you can count. She pushed me through every mode of training there was, for both my mind and body. Pain soon became an afterthought, and then it meant nothing to me. I soon became a match for her, but my win-loss ratio never got past 65-35. And so my search for power began anew, this time in areas… less dominated by the Light. I didn't have to look all to that far though, 'cause Oryx trundled into the system, giving us a hello, and a 'fuck you' to the Reef's forces."

"The situation seemed hopeless, until we discovered a way to get onto the Dreadnaught. All we needed was a stealth drive. Let's just say that Eris' ship wasn't the same after we entered the Dreadnaught. It wasn't even intact, but hey, mission accomplished. Any celebrations we could've had were shat upon, as we found the humongous fucker waiting for us when we entered the Court of Oryx. It was then that I also found out that Drel had followed me onto the massive Hive battleship. Nevertheless, I still attempted to make an agreement with the guy. Our conversation went something like this…"

 **[Line Break]**

Dreadnaught, Rings of Saturn.

3 years ago…

"What the hell're you doing here?!" Gray hissed. "I never saw you board Eris' ship!"

"I was right behind you the entire time. In another ship of course. As for the how, it was getting boring at the Tower, so I wanted to know what you were up to." The Awoken Warlock leaned forward conspiratorially. "I know about your little quest for power. I know that you think the Light's a bit weak. To be honest, so do I. The Tower's getting boring, our 'fellow Guardians' are pains in the ass, the Speaker is a cryptic motherfucker, and Zavala is fucking annoying. Cayde and Ikora are the only ones in the Tower I can tolerate, and that's saying something."

Gray was stunned. Not only did his teacher know what he was up to, she agreed with his mentality? A sigh of relief escaped his lips in place of any other words. For a second they forgot that the Taken King was floating in front of them, until he spoke. "Are you Light-bearers done conversing? If you are, then say your prayers." Oryx drew his Sword, the surrounding Hive and Taken either copying him or hefting their guns. Gray turned back to the God-King, hands raised. "We're not here to fight you, we're just here to offer you a… proposition."

"And why would I want to listen to what one of my son's killers has to say," Oryx snarled, stalking towards the Exo. The two stood barely a yard away form each other, Oryx's eyes filled with hatred, Gray's face unreadable. He doesn't have eyes, remember? "Ok, kill me. You have every right to do so. After all, I was the one who killed your son."

Drel looked at her pupil, her eyes widening slightly. 'You're seriously egging him on? Oh wait, that means that he'll just tell the bastard what he wants afterwards.' She turned back to Oryx, the rage on his face even more pronounced as he raised his sword, about to annihilate this Guardian into oblivion. "But know this," Gray stated, cool as an iceberg. "If you strike me down, you'll miss out on the chance to have a Guardian carrying out your orders."

That made the God-King freeze, and it was a good thing he did, as his sword was mere millimeters from Gray's spray-painted head. "Knew it," Drel muttered. "Although it almost sounded like he was gonna pull an Obi-Wan, what with the way he started that last sentence."

Oryx pulled his sword back, seething. "And why would I let a bearer of the Light, the killer of my son no less, into my ranks? Do you take me for a fool?!" He was howling now, his voice echoing through the massive ship, drawing the attention of both Hive and Cabal. "In short, I want power. More power than the Light can give me. I know you guys have that power. If you give it to me, Oryx, you've just gotten not one, but two Guardians at your beck and call." He gestured at Drel, who waved slightly. Turning back to Oryx, he continued. "And what if I told you that I have an idea as to how I can prevent your son from dying? Would that convince you to let me join your little band of warriors?"

The Taken King scoffed. "The only way you would be able to do that is if you travelled through time, and no one, not even I, can do it."

"One word: Vex."

Oryx began laughing. It was harsh and grating, as if saying, 'You fucking idiot. You really think the Vex'll just let you resurrect one of their worst enemies? Really now, I thought you had at least some sense about you…"

"If my calculations are correct, Atheon must be bored out of his mind right now." In the Vault of Glass, the subject at hand shivered, then wondered how Vex could shiver. That occupied him for a good 30 minutes before he got bored again.

"Look, I've got a way for you to get your son back and have two Guardians under your command. So whadya say," Gray said jovially, clapping his hands together. "Yes or no?"

It was at that moment that the Taken King knew he was about to make what could be the worst decision of his life. However, the potential benefits greatly outweighed the risks. He sighed internally, muttered something unintelligible and agreed to the Guardian's terms. "However, if anything goes wrong," Oryx seethed, his voice icy, "I will rip you both to pieces. Is. That. Clear?"

"Crystal," Gray acknowledged. He was astonished at how quickly Oryx had conceded to his little treaty. 'I thought the guy would have more... demanding conditions, but oh well. We've got some shit to do, and we're gonna do it or die. Simple as that.'

 **[Line Break]**

The Black Garden, Mars.

Present Day…

After processing all the info she'd been force-fed, the Heart came back with, "So that's how you got involved with Oryx, but how the hell did you get to look like how you are now? Also, Oryx is dead if you hadn't noticed. How're you gonna die if your boss isn't even alive to reenact his punishment? And what's stopping you from giving him the bird and dipping?"

"First question: I don't wanna talk about it. And to answer the second and third ones…" Gray drew his Ghost and told her to scan the energy in it. Once she did, his situation made a lot more sense. Oryx, a shard of him anyway, was inside the Ghost. The machine itself was Taken [picture the Consumed Shell], it's once blue eye now a deep black [look up Vantablack and you'll see what I mean]. It stared up at her, piercing her with it's unreadable gaze. "So, to sum it all up, I need you to help me and Drel go back in time in order to prevent the death of a Hive God. You up for it?"

"I really think you should do it," the Undying Mind remarked, making Gray jump. He had forgotten that there was a massive Hydra in the area as well. "Think about it. You get to go on what could possibly be the biggest adventure of your life."

"Fine, I'll go. But first, I'll need to make myself look a bit more… inconspicuous."

And with that, the Heart began to shrink, tentacles of darkness encompassing the Sol Progeny as well. The floor began vibrating, then rumbling, the cracking into pieces. Gray jumped back onto one of the platforms in the room, knees slightly bent to prevent himself from falling. His Ghost disappeared as the Undying Mind floated up next to him. Together they stared at the Heart, who had grown so large that, if he leaned forward, Gray could touch the Darkness radiating off her. But he couldn't, because a blaze of light made him black out for a good few seconds. When he awoke, the Undying Mind was gone, along with the Heart and the Sol Progeny. In their place was a gold and white Exo [Vex Precursor colors].

Gray noticed that the room seemed strangely empty. He looked around, struggling to place what was wrong. Then it clicked. All the other Vex Goblins, Hob-Gobs and Harpies were gone as well. 'Did she absorb them all to make this new form? If so, then I guess it worked.'

He began walking towards the Vex Exo, but came to a halt as she sat up, cradling her head. "God… fucking… dammit… never doing that again." She continued her bitching as Gray came into her field of view. "You gonna get up?"

"Yep… just gotta get it outta my system… did I say that this really fucking hurts?"

Gray nodded, helping the Exo up. "Now, you gonna teleport me to the Vault? We're running out of time to teleport."

"It'll take a few minutes. The Vault and my transmat systems never really got along… in the meanwhile, tell me about Drel's Ghost. Ira, right?"

"Yep. That one was probably Drel's only anchor to the land of sanity. I swear, at one point if Ira hadn't stopped her, she would've killed off all the Guardians on the Tower. Her reason? She was, and I quote, 'a bit irritated.' I honestly don't know what voodoo magic her Ghost puts on her every night, but hey. It works. As for the Ghost herself, Ira… she's probably the most normal out of all of us, as well as the most cool-headed. I've never seen her snap, not from anger, fear, anything. I worry about that one. She's got to put up with our shit 24/7. The last guy who tried that let himself be eaten by Thrall. Not a painless way to go."

The Heart grunted, a Vex display in her hand. "By the way, what should I call you?"

"Akari."

Gray nodded, then flinched as a portal opened up in front of him. Akari gestured towards it. "We gonna go?"

"Yeah. Just… never do that again, OK?"

"No guarantees."

And with that, the duo stepped through the Vex portal, leaving behind a now empty Black Garden. Unbeknownst to them, however, a lone Guardian lay lurking. This one was clad in almost entirely in black Spektar armor, the only exception being his [Spliced Nanomania Boots]. Once the duo disappeared, he summoned his Ghost. "Commander, you were right on the mark. It seems as though our number one and two have indeed defected. The worst part of it is, they seem to have gotten the help of Atheon and the Black Garden's Heart. Their goal is to revive Crota."

A pause as Commander Zavala yelled in surprise, then rage, then horror, then urgency. "Our main squadrons have been mobilized, Ana Bray had Rasputin target the Vault and around 7 fireteams have moved in just outside the bombardment zone. We've got them surrounded. Just give us the word and we'll bow the traitors to hell."

Another pause, this one much shorter than the last. "Understood sir. XT-07 out."

The Guardian nodded to his Ghost, and a single click rang out in response. The assault on the Vault was about to begin. And it would be one of the worst losses the Tower would ever have.

 **A/N: Hope this chapter was good. Really needed to write this before my motivation goes down... Also, new title and summary because past me is a fucking idiot.**


	3. The actual story starts here

A/N: Yes, this is after Forsaken, but I need Cayde alive so I can kill him off again. Sorry bucko, but life really be like that sometimes. Also, I hope I did/am doing good with this… story thing.

Side note: Go listen to Dan Terminus—The Wrath of Code (feat. PERTURBATOR) and/or SKYLAR SPENCE—KICKSTART MY HEART. Don't ask why, just do it.

 **[Line Break]**

Vault of Glass, Venus.

13:27 PM.

 **[Line Break]**

Zavala stood just outside the entrance to the Vault, Cayde-6, Ana Bray and Ikora Rey at his side, and six black-armored Guardians just behind him. That was Fireteam XT, a squadron of Guardians made, trained and honed to deal with turncoat Guardians. Behind Fireteam XT were hundreds, even thousands of Guardians. Some were there due to loyalty, some out of boredom and some for the possibility of powerful loot. All, however, had to accomplish one small thing before they would get their fix: Kill Gray, Drel and any Vex that got in their way. Ana Bray held up a datapad, fingers gliding over Russian keys. "Zavala, Rasputin's got a fix on the Vault's door. A few Warsats should touch down in around 20 seconds."

The Awoken Titan nodded, turning back to the Raid Lair. 'Open up Drel,' he thought darkly. 'We know you're in there.'

A part of Zavala's mind wondered what went through her head to defect to the Darkness. It very clearly explained her absence, yes, but the reason he had gotten from XT-07 was boggling, at least for him. Then the Warsats smashed into the Vault's entrance, the bronze door crumbling under the impact. Not long after, rockets flew towards the mangled gateway, blowing a hole large enough for 7 Guardians to go in at a time.

"Great news Zavala! I won't have to call Rasputin again!" Bray cheered, drawing her scout rifle. Zavala ignored the jab, instead turning towards the army of Guardians behind him. He only had to move two fingers for them to storm towards the Vault. Their footsteps could be felt throughout the Patrol Zone. Strangely enough, the Vex had been nowhere to be found. The Fallen, however, looked as though they were having a field day, going so far as to outright ignore the Guardians around them, and as such were left alone.

Once everyone was inside the Vault, Ikora led them through the Trial of Kabr, halting them just before they reached the Templar's Well. A sign was stuck on the platform, words scrawled in barely-readable handwriting. It said, "The Templar is currently on indefinite leave. Please visit again by at least 14:30 PM. Signed, [Your Favorite Hydra Shield Boyo.]"

Chuckles rang out from the crowd, but Zavala was unamused. "Who is this… 'Hydra Shield Boyo?'" he asked Ikora, who shrugged. "It's the Templar, sir," XT-05 answered, making the Warlock feel a bit like a dunce. "Well, in any case, we must push further into the Vault. We must stop whatever Drel and Gray are planning as soon as possible."

"You're making it sound like we actually did something," Cayde joked, Ana snickering slightly at that. The Vanguard ignored him, entering the Gorgon's Maze… and were met with another sign, this one with much neater handwriting. "Us Gorgons really need a break, so you all can fuck off 'till 15:20 PM, 'kay? Signed—[Your favorite Wiper boyos]."

"Were the Vex always like this?" Ana asked dubiously. "We honestly can't say," Cayde replied. "Probably because we were too busy killing each other. But if they are like this, I would love to have a few round with 'em."

"Of course you would Cayde," Ikora replied good-naturedly. Or, she would've said that, but Fireteam XT interrupted her. "Commander, we've got a single Vex signature heading towards us. We can't pin down what exactly it is… wait. It just disappeared. Attempting to relocate."

"No point in doing that," a chirpy voice said, ringing through the room. All heads turned towards a Gorgon, staring right at them. The Gorgon stared back, a thousand muzzles pointed right at its white eye. "Do it then. Kill me. But know this. If you strike me down I shall return more powerful than you could ever imagine."

The Guardians stared at the Vex. Shock, confusion, amusement and horror ran through each of them at least once. 'The Vex can speak English? It can understand us?! How the fuck is that even possible?!'

The Harpy let out what could be called a sigh, its white eye closing and body twitching. "You honestly thought that we couldn't speak English?" It laughed haughtily. "We've been watching you ever since the Traveler plopped its fucking half-dead fat-ass into your planet, i.e. a few fucking centuries. The only reason we didn't take you out before hand was because you were a source of interest to us Vex."

"We couldn't predict you, and as such, attempted to remedy that by studying you." The Gorgon's voice shrunk in on itself a tad, as if remembering something unpleasant. "That failed. Spectacularly. You Guardians kept killing us off with ease, most likely because you looked up Datto or some shit." That confused the Guardians even more. "But now we have a solution!"

He was interrupted by a sniper round dinging off his armor. "You gonna keep talking you fucking mecha-bastard?"

The Gorgon was silent for the first time in a solid 5 minutes. "No?" the voice replied condescendingly. "Good."

Before the man could say another word, however, the Gorgon began glowing red, energy streaming out from it's eye. It was about to gaze them into oblivion.

Noise, fire and speeding lead all erupted from the Guardians. The Gorgon was annihilated before it could finish it's gaze, disintegrating into flame, electricity and darkness. "Well, now that that's done," the voice said chirpily, before a smack rang through the room. Zavala stormed towards the culprit, enraged. "YOU! What the HELL WERE YOU THINKING?! YOU COULD'VE GOTTEN US ALL FUCKING KILLED!"

The Guardian looked up at the furious Commander, about to say something, but disappeared. No flash of light, no poof of dust. One second he was there, and the next second he wasn't. Ana walked up to the Awoken, face slightly panicked. "Commander, there's a weird signal coming from just up ahead. It's similar to what Fireteam XT got before that Gorgon appeared, but I can't pin it down…"

She was interrupted by whatever illumination they may have had going out. Total darkness consumed them. They tried getting their Ghosts to light up the maze for them, but nothing happened. It seemed as though any and all light was absorbed and nullified. A sound not unlike a radar's beeping could be heard traversing through the room.

Blip. Blip. Blip. Blip.

"Uuhhh, Ikora? You doing anything over there?" Cayde asked nervously.

"That… isn't me, Cayde. And I'm fairly certain it isn't anyone here… right?"

The beeping got louder, faster, higher pitched.

Blip-Blip-Blip-Blip-Blip.

"Ana, are you do—"

"I'm not touching anything but my scout rifle Zavala," Ana snapped. Zavala resisted rebuking her, as she was on edge. They all were, and even more so when heavy footsteps began rumbling through the room. One set was much more pronounced than the other. The quieter set seemed to be walking almost in synch, but not quite enough to be in synch. The two pairs of noise grew louder, louder, louder… until they stopped, being replaced by a low, icy and very familiar voice. One that had been annihilated barely a minute ago.

"You fuckers really thought I died? You reeeally thought you killed me off?" A chuckle. On the surface it seemed neutral, but the undertones were downright terrifying. "You forget. This is the Vault of Glass. We Vex run this fucking show, and we die when we fucking feel like it." Clicks and chirps echoed around them. Zavala whispered, "Bray, find out wherever that voice is coming from. Fireteam XT, as soon as she does, hunt it down and eliminate it."

They nodded, and the Commander turned to his Fireteam. They didn't say a word, only nodding and stepping closer to each other. That was one of the last things they would ever do. As a Fireteam, at least.

A white eye appeared directly in front of them. Then another. And another. They appeared on ledges, peeking form behind rocks and staring from above.

Then, a massive shape, barely outline-able in the darkness. It floated around 50 feet away from them, surrounded by three small, blue lights. The form twitched, twisted, as if constantly spasming. A white-blue eye glinted to life, revealing two human-sized formed in front of it.

Green energy flared from Hive armor revealing Drel standing before them, a Thorn in one hand, [The Continental] in the other. A small green eye floated next to her, piercing them all with a hostile gaze. Sweat trickled down Ikora's neck, while Cayde gripped his [Ace of Spades] a little tighter. Zavala, in the meanwhile, was just about to order the Guardians to open fire, but stopped when blue energy burst from Drel's right.

The new figure towered over Drel, with Fireteam XT estimating his height to be at least 6' 4". Standing inside the blue armor was Gray. At a glance you'd think he was just another [King's Fall] Guardian. That wasn't the case though, as a crushing aura rippled off him, sending warning signals to every Guardian in the Maze. It seemed familiar to some, but they couldn't put it down.

Without warning, a foot slammed down next to Drel. Then another. Said foot began to glow, along with a leg… then another leg… then a chest. The insanely tall figure kept lighting up until they finally figured out who it was. Atheon, Time's Conflux, was standing before them, holding his signature Torch Hammer. The two sides stared at each other, hands on guns, waiting for the other to make the first move. You could hear a pin drop, what with how quiet it was. Time seemed to slow, which wouldn't've been all to that infeasible. This was the Vault. Time meant close to jack shit in here. A green blur, a gunshot, and then all hell broke loose.

"OPEN FIRE! OPEN FIRE!" Zavala screamed as the Guardians spewed grenades, bullets and Supers at Drel, Gray and the Vex. A harsh mechanical scream flooded the room in reply, the Gorgons preparing to Gaze upon the Guardians. Atheon ducked, dodging the majority of the first wave of bullets, supers and rockets headed his way. Key word being: 'majority'. The impact from the remainder made him stumble backwards, almost tripping on one of the Gorgons. The Templar merely sat in his spot spamming his Aeon Mauls, his shield impenetrable. The Relic wasn't anywhere to be found either, so was absolutely no chance of being his in any way.

Drel began firing away with her Thorn and [The Continental], Guardian heads blowing up not long afterwards. She dual wielded the guns as if they were extensions of her own body, dodging shots and supers as they came along. A Hunter ran towards her, Arc Staff spewing lightning as she approached the Warlock. Drel waited until she got close, ducking under the first swing, leaning slightly to the left for the down-ward chop and hopping backwards when the staff came back up for a slash that, if it had connected, would've spewed Drel's guts all over the floor. What did happen was that while the Hunter had her arms raised, Drel darted at her, Thorn poised to blow her brains out. And so it did. But there was no time to t-pose on her corpse, however, as six Golden Gun shots pinged off her shields, cocking her head backwards. As she turned to engage the new Hunter, she caught a glimpse of Gray mowing down the opposing legion.

And he was, his Heavy Slug Thrower [let's just call it an HST for now] screaming fire, micro-rockets and a cacophony of noise as it hit shield, armor, metal, skin and bone. What made the thing unique was that Gray had modified its muzzle and barrel to make it sound like a GAU-8 [google that thing, it sounds like an extremely loud and badass fart. One you never want to hear, ever.] The blaring sound disoriented quite a number of Guardians, who were then ripped to shreds.

If a Guardian managed to get close, he switched to his primary, a Cabal Slug Launcher [C-SL]. The strange thing about it was that Gray's weapons were almost half his height and his width, but he was able to swap between them like Cayde drawing his Hand Cannon. 2-3 body shots were all it took to bring a Guardian down, leaving them a hole-riddled bloody mess. And when it came to melee combat, a single swing of his Cleaver did the job. One Guardian had the chance to experience this while attempting to stab Gray from behind. The only thing she got out of it was a feeling of disconnection, then falling, and finally seeing the sword in Gray's hand. It looked… different than a normal Cleaver, however, and it was glowing white. 'Almost looks like… one of ours.' And all the while Gray kept firing an endless stream of shells and micro-rockets into the crowd.

Suddenly chimes pierced through the air, red Oracles appearing not long afterwards. As for the Gorgons, every time one was struck down, not only did it's compatriots get stronger, it came back as tough as it's brethren. Zavala saw all this and more. He knew that if they didn't retreat they would be completely annihilated. Some of the other Guardians had already figured this out and were transmatting their asses out of the Vault. "FALL BACK!" he yelled. "FALL BACK OR WE ALL DIE!"

The Vanguard began running out of the Maze just as a massive portal appeared behind the Vex. The Templar disappeared first, along with some of the Gorgons. Drel was next to retreat, popping heads as she went. Gray followed, fire spewing from his HSL. Next went Atheon, Torch Hammer blazing, then a few more Gorgons, their Gazes discharging. Ikora got out the Maze first, followed by Zavala. Cayde, however, took 5 micro-rockets to the leg, crumpling down 10 feet away from the exit. As he turned, he saw a severely weakened Gorgon about to Gaze a group of cornered Guardians. They were out of ammo and appeared to be waiting for death. Cayde popped his Super, super-heated shots slamming into the Gorgon, ripping it to pieces. They turned towards him and he waved them away frantically.

He raised his Ghost, preparing to transmat, but a rogue Torch Hammer shot caught it head-on, blasting it, his arm and half his face to pieces. Cayde groaned, propping himself up and crawling towards his Fireteam, still firing [Ace of Spades] at any stray Gorgons. He barely chipped the paint off them, but if that was all he could do he would damn sure do it. His mag now emptied, Cayde snapped open the chamber, flicked out empty casing and slammed in a fresh one, driving back the Gorgons. They had almost all gone through the portal. All except one. It had turned to him, bullet scratches all over its eye, looking pissed the hell off. Cayde knew his time had come, but still shot at it anyway.

Ikora and Zavala were in the process of getting the hell out of the Vault when the Warlock noticed something wrong. "Cayde… where's Cayde?!" She whipped around frantically, searching for any sign of the horned Exo. Her eyes filled with horror at the thought of him being left behind with the Vex abominations. And so she ran, faster than she had ever run before. Through the endless stream of Guardians running the opposite direction she ran. Re-entering the Maze she saw Cayde firing at the last Gorgon in the room. His shots were futile, doing absolutely no damage whatsoever to the thing as it slowly closed in on its prey. She charged up her Nova Bomb, stopping only when a blue hand grabbed her by the shoulder, pulling her back. Ikora shoved Zavala away, rearing back to throw the Bomb again when she saw Cayde shooing her away. Not waving frantically, shooing. 'Just go,' he mouthed. The look in his eyes said, 'There's no point in you dying with me. Go. Now.'

Ikora hesitated for merely a second, and then gave in to Zavala's now successful attempts at pulling her away. There wasn't anything she could do. There wasn't anything anyone could do.

Cayde stared at their retreating backs, a red glow creeping up on him. The Exo turned around again to see a Gorgon floating right over him, tendrils twitching calmly. "Welp, I guess this is the end of the line for me," Cayde said, then erupted into a fit of coughing. At this point the room had been emptied of any other Guardians/Vex. It was only Cayde and the Gorgon. "You did all you could bud. Don't blame 'em for running. I would too if an eldritch horror able to manipulate reality to its will was stalking towards me."

The Exo chuckled slightly at this. He didn't know why, but the thought of being at death's door while talking to one of his sworn enemies seemed… humorous somehow. "You guys are rulers of time, right?" Cayde asked, voice strained. "If so, then in whatever timeline you guys are gonna invade, come visit the Tower sometime. We could have a few drinks, talk about life, y'know, stuff like that."

The Gorgon agreed to Cayde's proposition. "But how would you know it was me?"

In response, Cayde handed the Gorgon his Hand Cannon. "This," Cayde replied, his voice soft. 'Well… this is it. I'm coming home… Ace.'

The Hydra stared at the Hand Cannon for a second, shell twitching slightly. Then a blue tentacle reached down and tentatively grabbed the gun. Cayde coughed some more, and his eyes began flickering. "One… one last thing…" he whispered, grabbing the Gorgon tightly. "If… you meet… a guy named Uldren… Uldren Sov…" the Exo paused, eyes going black for a good second. "K… kick his… sorry ass… for me, yeah?"

The Gorgon nodded, holding out a tentacle. Cayde stared at it for a second, not understanding what the Vex was doing. Then he realized. It was reaching out to shake his hand. A sign of respect from the Hydra. He grinned, they shook on it, and his eyes finally dimmed to black. The Gorgon was silent, keeping its tentacle in the now-dead Exo's hand for a good minute. Then it placed the Hand Cannon on its head, releasing the energy its Gaze had been holding for the better part of a few minutes. Cayde-6's body disappeared, and the Maze was once again empty.

Or so it thought.

The Gorgon looked up to find Ikora staring right at it, eyes burning with rage. No words were spoken. It knew she would be coming for it, no matter where it hid. They continued the staring competition, an emotionless white eye under assault from two angry ones. The Hydra turned away, Ikora's eyes still boring into its back. Just before it entered the portal, however, she saw Cayde's gun in its grasp. That pushed her over the edge, and she fired a massive Nova Bomb at it… to no avail. The portal closed, and the purple orb exploded harmlessly on the ground. She walked over to where Cayde was last, but nothing remained. The damned Vex had taken his one and only memento. The only thing they would be able to remember him by now was their own memories.

Footsteps behind her. Zavala, walking slowly into the Maze. The first thing he noticed was that Cayde was missing. The second thing he saw was Ikora's back. The final thing he noticed were Ikora's tears.

A scream echoed through the Vault. It flew though the Vex stronghold, causing any who hear it to look towards the source. It was filled with many things. Rage. Hatred. Melancholy. Regret. But most of all: Sorrow.

 **[Line Break]**

The Moon.

The Gatehouse, Hellmouth.

Current Mission: [The Sword of Crota.]

Time: 11:42 AM.

 **[Line Break]**

"Ok, what the hell are we doing here? I thought I said in between D1 vanilla and The Dark Below."

"First off: Relax. Second off: If you want to help accelerate Crota's resurrection, why not start by getting his weapon? Seems like a good start dontcha think?"

A grumble of annoyance. "Besides, you said it yourself. If you fail at this, you die, so I'm not leaving anything to chance. Also, you guys are like my guides through the Destiny universe. I can't have you dying on me just yet."

Gray, Drel, a gray-skinned Awoken and Akari sat in front of the Sword of Crota, a massive Vex portal behind them. They were waiting for the Templar and the Gorgons to come through the wormhole. 'It's been 15 fucking minutes. What's taking them so long?!'

Suddenly a shape walked through the portal. It wasn't a Vex Hydra or a Harpy. It wasn't even human. It was an unarmored Fallen Dreg. Gray's arm blurred, her Thorn blurting three shots out, all pining off the Dreg's shell-covered head. It's skin looked like normal, however the dark gray carapace it sported was now a lighter, more polished shade of it's former color. The shell also encompassed the entirety of it's body. Where the joints once were vulnerable, now they were completely covered by smaller, more flexible plates. Three blue balls surrounded the Eliksni, looking eerily similar to the Templar's balls. The carapace covering the Dreg's head retracted, revealing four white-blue eyes and a grin filled with hella-sharp, but impeccably clean teeth. "Relax, Drel, its only me, your favorite and former Hydra boyo."

She lowered her gun, glaring at him. "You could've said something before I shot at you. What if you got killed?"

The Vex-Fallen hybrid chuckled, which came out as low, guttural breaths of air. "You forget that I'm a Vex Ultra, a raid mini-boss at that. I think I'll be able to take a few shots from that pea-shooter of yours…"

"Oy, don't talk shit about Thorn here," she replied defensively, rubbing the Hand Cannon. "He's my best friend when I'm on the field."

The Templar simply nodded, sitting down next to the group. "Oh yeah, where's Atheon?"

"Right here," the gray Awoken said flatly, turning to face the Templar. His gray skin would've helped his silver-white eyes blend in, were it not for the fact that his sclera were completely black. Atheon's hair was spiked, short and black, emphasizing his sclera even more than they already were. He looked… strange, to say the least. The Templar looked him over, noting the white-gold armor he sported. It was similar to the Dreg's in the sense that it completely and seamlessly covered his entire body, the only difference being the color. "Oh, so you guys get cool new armor and I don't?" Drel whined, staring jealously at their armor. "I feel really fuckin' gypped."

"Um, Drel? You do realize that the armor you're seeing on me is melding into my skin, right?" When the Warlock stared up at him with a confused look, he took off one of his Gauntlets, revealing a metal arm infused with Harrowed chitin. " If my hypothesis is correct, the same thing should be happening to you, which means that soon enough you'll have the same type of armor they have."

The stuff hadn't completely covered the limb, as patches of black could still be seen, but overall it was pretty fused in. Drel ripped off her leg armor and saw her skin was undergoing the same metamorphosis. Her mouth opened, then shut, then repeated steps 1-2. Gray simply put his Gauntlet back on, watching her reaction. Finally she spoke, her voice hushed. "Fuckin' hell… Ira, how long has this been happening?"

"A few months now. Your… changes don't run as deep as Gray's, but they're there. Must be the Awoken blood in you rejecting the Hive conversion." As the Ghost spoke, Drel looked at her skin, now filled with dark, shiny patches. The Warlock stared at herself for a good few minutes before putting her leg armor back on.

"Oh, you think that's cool?" Akari twisted towards Drel. Having given the Awoken's legs a look over as well, and didn't want to be one upped… even though she hadn't been one upped. "Check this shit out."

Her armor looked… alive, flowing across her like a second skin. And yet, it still had a Vex look to it [picture the glowing part of a Gorgon's plating. Now, turn it black and you've got the right look.] She did a full 360, Drel looking every inch of her over. "Damn… that's kinda hot."

The Exo froze, giving Drel a 'hold-up' look, then dismissing her comment. Then Akari snapped her fingers, a look of annoyance spreading across her face. "Oh yeah… where're those damn Gorgons at?"

The answer came in the form of a small, nude and scar-covered human body flying through the portal, shutting it soon after. "Finally made it," the woman said, picking herself up. "God damn that took a while."

"What took you so… long…" Drel snapped, her words dying in her throat when she saw the Ace of Spades Hand Cannon in the Gorgon's hand. Gray noticed it as well. Both knew what it meant to have the Vanguard Hunter's Hand Cannon. Innocently oblivious, Akari looked at the gun, then looked at the person holding it, and then looked over at Gray and Drel. "Where'd you get the gun? And why're y—"

Gray's finger quieted any other questions the Exo might've had. The silence prevailed for a long while, what with both the Templar and Atheon recognizing the looks on the ex-Guardian's face. While Gray still had his helmet on, Drel's face had a hint of sorrow on it. Just a hint, but still noticeable. "What were his last words?" Gray said softly, tone neutral. "If we meet a guy named Uldren Sov, we're to kick his sorry ass for him."

Gray nodded slightly, looking towards the Gorgon. "From now on, that's your primary. Care for it like it's your kid. Got it?" He said this with undertones that rumbled her very core. She nodded, and Gray spoke again, this time in a less serious tone. "Also, couldja get your armor on? You look good and all, but I'm really interested in seeing what your armor looks like."

"Oh… got it. Also, I have a name now since the author really wants to stop calling me 'Gorgon'. It's Rei," Rei said, blue-white armor wrapping around her. It looked like her original shell, the only difference being gold stripes running down her arms, legs, chest and back. They accentuated her figure a bit too well in the Templar's opinion, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he just looked her over, nodded and lay on his back. Rei plopped down next to him. "So… now what? We've plopped into D1's vanilla, which isn't anywhere near where we're supposed to be," she said, aiming a verbal spear at Atheon. He dodged it, countering with, "These two need to resurrect Crota, right? I've placed them in the best spot to do so. But there's two things we should remember."

"And that is?"

"The Guardian traipsing towards us and the Swarm Princes about to pop outta that ink over there."

The strange group looked over at the murky liquid in front of them. Sure enough a massive Knight was crawling out of the dark depths, accompanied by a mini-armada of Thrall. Akari looked over at Gray. "You guys can speak Hive, right?" the Exo nodded, pushing back his toothy hood. "Then tell them we come in peace. Our goal is to resurrect Crota."

A sharp burst of chittering, growling and clicking spewed from Gray's orange mouth. It was spoken so abruptly that everyone but Drel stopped to stare at the ex-Guardian. Akari, the Templar, Rei and Atheon then proceeded to begin recording the conversation, as they wanted to learn how to speak the Hive's language. Ira popped into existence, noting the Vex's intense stares. "You want me to be a translator? 'Cause I can do that."

Rapid nods were given, and the Ghost began translating what Gray and his Hive audience were saying. "—ow can you speak the Royal tongue? You are but a mere machine, and a former Light-Bearer as well!"

Gray: [Summons his Ghost.] This enough of an explanation for ya?

Garok, Xol Prince: How does one formerly of the Light bear a shard of our King?

Gray: You don't want, nor need, to know. What you do need to know is that we need this Sword, 'cause if we don't revive Crota, this shard here's gonna kill me. Now, anything we might need to know about this thing in the future?"

Garok: [slight pause] Only that it must be sated with the Light of felled Guardians.

Gray: Great. We can do that. Now, you just run off and tell your compadres that there's a new gang in town, one that'll be visiting you all really soon…

With that, Gray turned back to Drel, giving her a single nod. "That was short," Atheon remarked. Whatever conversation bait he put out was ignored. The Hive walked back their pools, the liquid seeming to consume them as they got in. Once they had, Drel picked up the glowing Cleaver, strapping it next to her Hunger of Crota. Energy instantly coursed through her, making her visibly shake with ecstasy. Her vision blurred, her hearing dimmed. All she could feel was pleasure, along with a voice crying for more. It resonated within her, drawing out her own inner demon. They were pushed back down by a tri-fingered hand waving in front of her face. "Earth to Drel, we need you back on the ground, not up in orgasm city."

She gave the Templar a flick in return, walking out of the room just in time to bump into a Guardian. She was surprised that one would be down here, but remembered something Atheon had said around 15-17 lines ago: 'The Guardian traipsing towards us…'

The Guardian looked up at her, then at the Sword on her back. A voice came from the helmet, one that belonged to the Guardian's Ghost and not the man himself. "You wouldn't mind giving us that glowing sword on your back now, would you? We really, reeeally need that thing destroyed, so if you co—"

A single shot rang out from behind them all. Turning, they saw Rei holding a smoking [Ace of Spades], it's barrel pointed at where the Guardian's head once was. It was gone now, brains and blood spilling out in its place. "I like this gun… I like it very much." She clipped it to her hip and began walking out of the Gatehouse, the rest of the group following.

It was then that the Vex wondered how exactly they were going to get off the Moon. Sure, they could use a portal, but those weren't all to that accurate and they could just as easily end up in space or crushed in the planet's core. Their solution and saviors came in the form of two black and red Ceres Galliots, both of which had the SIVA insignia on them. "Where'd you get those?" Atheon asked Gray, shouting to be heard over the ship's engines. "And why's it have such an odd signature to it?"

"Long story fam," Drel replied. "Now, I've only got so much space so Atheon, Rei, you're coming with me. Akari, Templ—"

"Yyaggr," the Templar interrupted.

"What?"

"The name's Yyaggr now."

"Ok, you do that. Yyaggr, you're going with Akari and Gray. Get on the Galliot, we're going to Venus."

3 minutes later, just outside the Gatehouse…

"That hurt like hell Ghost. You could've at least warned me about there being more of them."

"Apologies, Guardian. I was blinded by the Sword's energy signature, so to speak, and didn't notice the ones behind her."

"Speaking of Swords, where'd Crota's go? The City really needs that thing destroyed."

His answer came in the form of two unknown ships flying away from the Moon at an impossibly high speed, bearing an even more unknown insignia. "Get a picture of that symbol Ghost."

"Already did, but there's something fishy about it. There's noting in the Tower's databases that even references this thing. It's almost like that info was… erased."

The Guardian stared up at the ships just as they flew off, curiosity burning in his mind. Who was that mysterious lady? Where did she go? Why did her compatriots kill him? So many questions, so little time to answer them all. "We'll ask around the Tower for any info that might help us with this case."

"Right…" the Guardian muttered, only half listening as his mind cooking up theories and possible answers as to the identities of his assailants. But one thing was clear. Whoever they were, they were extremely dangerous.

At the same time, in some unknown corner of the galaxy…

[Line Break]

This is… peculiar, to say the least.

I know that I am the only one of my kind out in the vast cosmos. This is simply because I am the only Oryx in these cosmos.

I am the only Taken King. There cannot be another.

However, if there can be only one Oryx, then why do I sense a duplicate, albeit many times smaller? Why can I detect another me?

This will have to be investigated. Immediately.

 **[Line Break]**

A/N. Ok. This probably didn't turn out well, the reasons being: I need to get to sleep, it's around 1:20 in the morning and I have classes tomorrow. What am I doing with my life. Anyways, to anyone actually reading this, the next chapter should come out in the next 5 days. New OC stats below. I've got some more planned next chapter. Stay toasty my homies.

Edit: Well, that was written at least 7 hours ago. Nothing's changed though. Gonna buy me a bag of Smarties, 'cause it's probably the only thing that'll keep me awake.

Edit #2: Got me the bag of smarties. The sugar rush is in progress and I can see the crash not too far away.

 **[Line Break 1]**

 **[Line Break 2]**

 **Name: Gray**

 **Gender: Male.**

 **Age: Unknown.**

 **Height: 6' 6"**

 **Class: Hunter.**

 **Race: Exo.**

 **[Line Break]**

 **Armor: [similar to Drel's but glows blue instead of green. Also covered in Harrowed Chitin.]—**

 **Helmet: Harrowed Darkhollow Mask**

 **Gauntlets: Take [Dream-Eater Grasps], but completely cover it in Harrowed chitin [the stuff the (Kings Fall) armor is made of].**

 **Chest Armor: Take [Dream-Eater Vest], but cover it in the same stuff that's on his [Dream-Eater Grasps]. It now has pockets too.**

 **Leg Armor: You know the drill. Take [Ghost Angel], cover with Harrowed Chitin.**

 **Ghost Shell: Consumed Shell.**

 **Artifacts: None.**

 **[Line Break]**

 **Weapons: [this is where it gets interesting…]**

 **Primary: Cabal Slug Launcher [cover that shit in chitin too]**

 **Secondary: Cabal Heavy Slug Launcher [Gray took this one from Ta'aun, Hand of Oryx. Look up his Grimoire card of you don't know who or what I mean.]**

 **Heavy: Hive Cleaver [Look up his (Ecthar, Sword of Oryx) picture.]**

 **Jumpship: Ceres Galliot [I'll have stats for the Jumpships and Sparrows in the next chapter.]**

 **[Line Break 1]**

 **[Line Break 2]**

 **Name: Atheon.**

 **Gender: Male.**

 **Age: Unknown.**

 **Height: 6' 4".**

 **Class: Titan.**

 **Race: Awoken.**

 **Armor: White-gold and looking like a sleeker version of a Hunter's armor.**

 **Weapons: Torch Hammer. He's gonna get new shit eventually though. I just have to figure out what that shit'll be.**

 **Jumpship: Probably gonna be another Ceres Galliot. Why? Because Galliot Gang.**

 **Sparrow: None yet.**

 **[Ok, the chapter's finally done. Now I can devour smarties like pussy on New Years Eve.]**


	4. Flashbacks, Sparrows & Vex Annihilation

**A/N: Ok. Before I start, lemme take a peek at my checklist.**

 **Computer Charged? Check.**

 **Cat Scratched? Check.**

 **Hockey Game Won? Check.**

 **Epic Gamer Bread Collected? Check.**

 **Soundcloud in my Ears? Check.**

 **Time to write.**

 **[Line Break]**

 **Drel's Galliot.**

 **Somewhere in between the Moon and Venus.**

 **[Line Break]**

Atheon and Rei were all over the Galliot's interior, eyes shimmering with excitement as they looked and poked at every inch of it. This surprised Drel since her ship didn't exactly have all to that much inside it. Just a couch/bed combo, a weapons/armor locker, a closet and a mini-fridge/freezer combo. The walls, ceiling and floor were a myriad of blended colors that, to a passing eye, looked like someone had set off a Nova Bomb filled with a shit-ton of paint inside the ship, took a peek at the results, nodded and went along with their business. The strangest thing about it was that it all fit the overall aesthetic of the ship. The inside at least. If you compared the outside with what they were looking at now the contrast would blind them three times over.

Atheon hopped onto the couch, head resting on one end while his legs copied him on the other. Rei, who had gotten to the couch a second early, gave him a half-serious glare. "Really?"

"Yes really."

The woman sighed, turning to look at the cockpit seats. They looked like the exterior coloring of the Galliot and, like the exterior, it seemed… alive, as if it had a second skin flowing across it. Rei couldn't pin down what the substance was, so she asked Drel to do it for her. The Awoken Warlock had just exited the weapons locker, having deposited the Sword of Crota inside of it. "Oh, the seats? They're made of a carbon fiber/SIVA mix."

Rei gave her a look of two very different meanings. One could interpret the look as 'Nice.' Another could see it as 'HOLY SHIT YOU CAN USE SIVA HOW THE FUCK CAN YOU DO THAT?!'

"And before you ask," Drel stated, holding a finger to the shorter woman's mouth. "Yes, I did manage to reprogram the SIVA. Took me around 9 months, 15 near-outbreaks of the stuff and a whole-lotta support."

"How'd you do it?" Rei leaned closer to the Warlock, emphasizing every word with a poke to the gut. "Come on, spit it out."

Drel replied, "Flashback time."

 **[Line Break]**

 **Dreadnaught, Rings of Saturn.**

 **Three years prior… or 3 years later. Depends on how you look at things.**

 **[Line Break]**

"You want to do WHAT EXACTLY?!"

Ecthar was furious. This was probably the craziest plan that had come out of the little Awoken's mouth. "Did you not just see what that… those _things_ did to our troops?! They were massacred in the course of a few minutes! Do you honestly think you would fare any better?!"

"Yes, I know what they did to our guys, Little Sword." It always pissed him off when she called him that. As to why, she never really knew. Probably because she was too busy dodging his frenzied swings to listen.

"You know, I thought you were insane. Proposing you use Vex tech to go back in tome and prevent Lord Crota's death? But this," he snarled angrily. "This isn't just insanity. It's something worse. Much, much worse. If it weren't for the fact that you have Lord Oryx's favor I would cut your head off right here and now."

"Which wouldn't mean anything 'cause Ir Halak just finished teaching me and Gray how to Throne World our asses away from death."

"Even still it would satisfy me, if only for a moment." The Knight sighed, running its fingers across its bony head. "Look, I know what you're trying to get me to look at. You want me to see the potential success residing in this project. However, all I can see is it falling to pieces, if not sooner than most certainly later."

"Yeah, you're right. But look at it this way. If I go back in time with at least one completed sample, we could revive Crota as easily as you slicing me to bits in training."

Ecthar opened his mouth, then shut it. He stared off into a chitin wall, eyes glazing over, and began muttering to himself. Drel tuned him out and began formulating a plan as to how she would get a sample of the SIVA nanomachines. If she could isolate a section of the stuff for at least half a second she would be able to use her Runes a—

A flick on her nose broke her concentration and her less-than-concentrated train of thoughts. "Don't even think about it until I get a go-ahead."

That was code for 'Fine. It's a good idea.' Drel smiled at Ecthar. "Thanks Ecthar, but I'll run this by Oryx myself. See what he thinks about it."

He nodded, her smile growing ever-wider, and she left the room, rapid footsteps echoing through the hallways as Drel headed towards Oryx's Altar. "Honestly. I still think she's insane, but…" Ecthar sighed, shaking his head. "This'll only be able to go one way or the other. I pray it won't go left."

 **[Line Break]**

Drel swaggered towards Oryx's Altar, chock-full of confidence. The Taken stationed there gave her a nod. That would've been normal, were it not for the fact that they did it _at the same time_. And even worse, they did the _exact same motions_. 'Twas creepy, to say the least. But it certainly was better than them kneeling. That had pissed her off so badly the first few times she beat the shit out of them, then told them to just nod. 'I'm gonna have to fix that simultaneous nodding. It's startin' to creep me out.'

That was put out of her mind as she strode onto the Altar, Oryx meditating just in front of its ledge. The aftermath of the Reef Armada's complete annihilation stretched far and wide, the stars and asteroids blocked with ship pieces and the occasional dead body. "What is it, Drel? More crazy ideas?" He said this in a friendly tone.

"To be blunt, I want your permission to get a sample of the SIVA nanomachines and, along with a team of Wizards, repurpose it for bringing back Crota's body." When Oryx didn't reply she continued. "If we succeed, I could use this to not only bring your son back, but as an armor or weapon upgrader. I'm thinking of putting it on our ships as a sort of test once we're done."

"Think about it. Your son, Crota, in a body that regenerates infinitely, and is tough as hell to boot.. If my hypothesis is correct, only Atheon would be able to kill him since he has the ability to erase things from time. And since I'm going to be recruiting him into our little band, we won't have to worry about that happening any time soon."

Oryx, still silent, nodded for a second, considering his options. On the one hand, he could be giving his son a near indestructible body. On the other, he could be dooming the entire crew of the Dreadnaught on a whim. Then again, she had proven very dependable in their operations against the Cabal, Vex, Fallen and Guardians. However, this wasn't about loyalty or usefulness. He was in her debt. To sum the encounter up, three Guardians had attempted to sneak into his Throne World [High War]. They had driven him to the brink of death, however she had-and he meant this quite literally—blasted through the wall, killing the Guardians by means of a crumpled skull, crushed chest or broken neck. It was then that he realized the depth of her allegiance to the Hive, and how dangerous she could be if crossed.

Yes, he was in her debt, and as such repaid it by allowing her to retrieve and experiment on the SIVA. However, there was a condition. "You have one year to complete your project. If you cannot finish it by then, I shall suspend you from your duties until I see that you are capable of resuming them."

"Oh, that's more than enough time," the Warlock replied, grinning cockily. "I'll only need nine."

Oryx nodded, turning back to the stars. Drel gave him a small bow. The last thing he heard from her was the sound of skipping and happy muttering.

 **[Line Break]**

 **Drel's Galliot.**

 **Present time.**

 **Somewhere in between Venus and the Moon…**

 **[Line Break]**

Rei leaned closer, wanting to her more, but Drel had paused, a faraway look in her eyes. That look got broken as Rei snapped her fingers in Drel's face. "Earth to Drel? Where's the rest of your little tale? I wanna hear more before we reach Venus!"

"W-what?" Drel stuttered, her mind catching up to her body. "Oh, alright then. But I won't be the one to tell you this bit of the story."

She opened up a red holographic screen and tapped a few keys on it. A second later, Gray's voice filled the room, along with Akari and Yyaggr's. "OY, DON'T TOUCH THAT!" he yelled briefly, unaware that he was on the comms. The outburst brought Atheon into the cockpit as well, and he leaned against the wall, interested in what they were up to. "Oh, hey Drel. Don't mind me, I'm just trying not to blast these fuckers into oblivion. Whadya want?"

"SIVA Experimentation. Remember it?"

A pause. "Yeah. You want me to tell them the best part?" He said 'best part' as if it were something conspiratorial. "Hell yeah I do. I'd suggest you hurry up too, 'cause Rei here looks like she's damn near ready to slice my head open and pry into my brain herself to get it outta me. And since she's a Vex I have no doubt she could."

Gray chuckled, then continued the flashback.

 **[Line break]**

 **We back in the Dreadnaught. Oryx best boy, Taken best race (Vex're in second), and SIVA best enemy.**

 **[Line Break]**

The sounds of [Reznyck-SHOCK DOCTRINE] blasted in his ears as he went through the rune sequence. 12 Wizards surrounded him, all going through their sequences as well. The nanomachines were packed in a sphere similar to that found on a Tomb Husk. Said sphere was also surrounded by 3 layers of Runes, and even then the stuff still threatened to break free. 22 personnel had been killed by the beast known as SIVA, and he'd be damned if he lost another one. "Yo Ylatl! You done up there?"

"Almost L-Gray, just gotta fix up Rune [E76] here and… done! … now."

Gray cleared his throat and began speaking. "This is Gray of the Blood of Oryx. I'm currently stationed in Research Sect. 198 of the Dreadnaught. About to start up SIVA manipulation attempt number 476. We've tweaked a few runes based on attempt 374." He turned to a trio of Wizards and they nodded. He looked back, pressing a bright red Rune. "Activating re-programming."

The Runes began to glow, some exploding, other merging. Whatever the case, they all seemed to be reacting to one another. "Margin of Error?"

"0.0000001%!" A Wizard above his head answered. "This is much, much better than anything else we've tried! Chief, I think this might be it!"

Gray looked apprehensively at the SIVA sample. It thrashed in the sphere, resisting the Runes' attempt at reprogramming it. "Status."

"Reprogramming at… no… this… impossible… reprogramming at 67%!"

The entire room went dead silent. 67%? In the course of less than a few minutes? "Are we backing up every second of this?"

"I've set it to back up on all servers! No WAY am I gonna let this slide!"

The entire group looked at the SIVA. It seemed… weaker, tamer compared to their previous attempts. "89%, 95%!" The SIVA had all but stopped moving at this point, twitching and poking at the protective circle around it. "100%! Or so the computer says. Who wants to go prove this?"

Gray volunteered instantly. He leapt over the counter, and it was only then that he noticed a very… special group watching him. Namely, Oryx, Ecthar, Alak-Hul, Ir Halak, Ir Anûk, the Warpriest, both the Hands, the Venom, Shield, Fist, Daughters, Gauntlet, Matron, Warden and Hunger of Oryx. Their piercing gazes only helping to fill him with even more apprehension than he already had. The Hunter stalked towards the SIVA like one might approach a wounded animal. It sat there, unmoving. As if dormant. Gray summoned some Runes in his hand, causing the ones restraining the nanomachines to disintegrate. He jumped backwards, ready to redeploy them at a moment's notice. But the SIVA still didn't more. He inched closer. It still didn't move, to everyone's astonishment. He then did what could've been the end of his life: he disintegrated the Tomb Husk sphere.

Instantly the SIVA wrapped itself around him, covering the Exo in red nanomachines. The Wizards all raised their hands, about to Darkness Blast him into oblivion. The air around him began to crackle and burn, among other things as Gray realized Oryx was about to kill him as well. To top it all off, he heard the Deathsingers begin their song. As a result, he did what any respectable person would do in his position: he panicked.

"WAIT A HOT FUCKING MINUTE!" he screamed, waving his arms. "I HAVEN'T DIED SO CHILL THE FUCK OUT WILL YOU!"

That stopped everyone in the room. Gray took a breath, then continued. "Look. I haven't disintegrated or started attacking you. And check this out." He held up his arm, the SIVA flowing across it to his hand. It formed a spiky ball that changed into a flat one, then a triangle, then a red replica of Oryx. "I can control this shit freely, and it isn't trying to override my mind as well. You know what that means?" Blank, disbelieving stares. "We did it people. We finally fucking did it."

Complete silence. Everyone stared blankly at the Exo for a few minutes. Then the room exploded in cheering, crying and overall celebration. Oryx began clapping, along with the other Ultras and Majors in the top row. Gray looked up at his boss just as Drel burst into the room a massive grin on her face. "WE GOT IT! WE FUCKING GOT IT!"

More rambunctious cheering. Drel ran up and hugged Gray so tightly his chest was about to crumple. When she pulled away, tears were threatening to overflow from her eyes. If Gray actually had a face, his eyes would be doing the same thing. But he doesn't have a face. As a result, what he did do was collapse on the floor, exhaustion overtaking him. Just before he blacked out, Drel heard him mutter one last sentence.

"Drinks on me, motherfuckers."

 **[Line Break]**

 **Back in the present. They're still in FTL Warp btw…**

 **[Line Break]**

"And that's what happened. Afterwards… let's just say me, Drel and the rest of the Hive on the Dreadnaught got _hella_ drunk. As in **_HELLA DRUNK_**. I passed out first, and Drel had to carry me back to my room. Thank for that btw."

"No problemo my homeslice."

"So, was there anything else you wanted to talk about?"

"One last thing: Where exactly is the rest of the SIVA you supposedly reprogrammed?"

In response, Drel walked over to a wall, putting her hand over an orange patch of paint. One second later the wall swung open, revealing three canisters of SIVA, all marked with Sharpie pens. One had 'Crota', the second had 'Drel' and the final one had 'Gray' written on it. "We could make more… if you guys want some, that is. I wouldn't recommend it though, 'cause I want to see how it'll do while reviving Crota."

Rei nodded, her mind racing as upgrades, predictions and possibilities flowed into her head. Her face grew slack, her eyes unfocused as she buried herself in her thoughts. Drel looked over at Atheon, who was scanning the three containers. This was interrupted by an abrupt jolt, indicating the FTL warp was done. The trio went flying across the ship, Drel slamming into the cockpit seats, Atheon and Rei piling on top of her. Like Rei's thinking, this didn't last either, as they were shot from the cockpit and into the back of the ship, Atheon hitting his head on the door as he flew. He groaned as he sat up, massaging his head. "What the fuck was that for?" he whined.

There was no response, only Drel disappearing in a haze of green light. 'Welp, guess it's time to go.' "Get up Rei, we've reached our destination."

"Ok Google," the woman grumbled, but before they could exit the ship Drel transmatted back inside. "I just realized that you guys're still wearing that armor of yours _and_ don't have any weapons. At least, none that wouldn't cause a helluva lotta suspicion. " She pulled open her lockers. Inside was every legendary/exotic weapon and armor piece in both Destiny 1 and 2. She even had Cabal, Hive, Fallen and Vex weapons, although those would most certainly cause some suspicion. "Take a look. See what strikes your fancy. Don't worry about having to copy the coloring though, I'll just say you've got some really rare shaders."

Before she transmatted off the Galliot, Drel gave them one last piece of advice. "One last thing: get a Sparrow. Fastest and second best mode of ground transportation, the first being your own feet."

Thanking the Warlock, the duo strode into the armor locker first, giving every armor piece a good look-over before they finalized their choices.. Atheon went to the Titan section and chose [Pandion Type 1], [Vest of the Jade Rabbit], [ACD/0 Feedback Fence], [Dunemarchers] and [Kell's Mark]. He was about to leave the room when he remembered the biggest aspect of a Guardian: it's Ghost. He could recreate one that seemed connected to the Light, but that would only be for looks. The Ghost whirred to life, radiolaria filling the void in which Light once called home. The thing looked up at him, blue eye unblinking. Atheon put then waved the Ghost away, assimilating it into his core.

As for Rei, she wandered over to the Hunter armor, since it seemed sleeker than the others. She slapped on a [Graviton Forfeit], [Sealed Ahamkara Grasps], [Vest of the Great Hunt], [St0mp-EE5] and an [Arc Flayer Mantle]. Rei gave her new Ghost the [Questing Shell], as it seemed as though she would be doing quite a bit of that in the future.

Next was the weapons locker. This was easier for Rei than for Atheon, as she already had one out of three guns down. Her secondary was [Transfiguration], her heavy [Eternity's Edge].

Atheon picked out [Parthian Shot], [Legend of Acrius] and a [Classical-42]. When he looked over at Rei, he groaned. She saw his remarks coming however, shutting him down with, "So what if it's Ahamkara stuff? I personally couldn't give a shit. This looks really cool and feels amazing too."

'That's what I'm worried about,' the senior Vex thought dismally, knowing that at this point nothing he said would get through her head. Finally they reached the Sparrow Sector, which contained downloadable activation codes. Rei and Atheon would select the Sparrow and their Ghosts would do the rest. She chose the S-35 Aeon Glow, he chose the EV-50 Mirage. Their shopping spree complete, Atheon and Rei finally disembarked from the Galliot, two mildly irritated faces greeting them. Noting that Akari and Yyaggr still weren't dressed, the duo decided to get some impromptu Sparrow piloting lessons in.

It would be the first and last time they did so.

 **[Line Break]**

 **Meanwhile, inside Gray's Galliot…**

 **[Line Break]**

"Ok… what have we here…"

Akari was murmuring to herself as she went through the aisles of armor. The words were half Vex Binary, half English, so to most they were unintelligible. Yyaggr understood all of it however, and was reaching his boiling point because of it.

Could you please stop with the fucking murmuring?" Yyaggr yelled, his voice echoing across the room. He was in the Warlock section, Akari in Titan. She had already picked out [Oblivion Helm], [Synthocepts], [Annihilating Plate], and the [Annihilating Greaves] but was held up by the decision of which Mark she would bear. She finally chose [Mark of the Exodus], leaving Yyaggr alone as she went to see what weapons she liked best.

"Finally," he muttered, relieved that her muttering had stopped. For the moment at least. He had an [Obsidian Mind] in his hand and was looking through the Gauntlets. Four pairs caught his eye: [Sunbreakers], [Nothing Manacles], [Ophidian Aspect] and [Claws of Ahamkara]. It took him 5 minutes of back and forth before he decided, "Fuck it. I'll just combine [Ophidian Aspect] with [Sunbreaker] and [Nothing Manacles] for one Gauntlet, and put one [Claws of Ahamkara] on as the other Gauntlet."

Three minutes later he did. Picture the lower arm of the [Sunbreaker]/[Nothing Manacles], but melded together. As for the upper arm, it consists of the stuff on [Ophidian Aspects]. An odd combo, I know, but hey, if you can't have it all then just mix it together.

Next was the Chest Armor. This was an easy one: [Sanguine Alchemy]. The Leg armor turned out to be [Boots of the Emperor's Minister], with the bond being [Bond of the Great Hunt].

Now onto his weaponry. This was a hard one, as so many looked appealing to him. He noticed Akari in the Heavy Weapons Sector. She was looked about as conflicted as he was. 5 minutes later, he had picked out his Primary: [The Last Word]. Next were the secondaries. He gravitated to the Scout Rifles, selecting a [Black Scorpion-4sr]. Lastly, the Heavy Weapons. This turned out to be easier than expected, as [Apex Predator] caught his gaze and never let go.

It had taken him 8 minutes, but Yyaggr finally caught up to Akari in the Sparrow section. She had selected [Hard Light], [Malfeasance] and [Steel Sybil Z-14]. "So, which're you gonna pick?" Akari asked, breaking the silence.

"Probably one of the SRL Sparrows," he replied, eyes scanning over his choices. The EV-41 Momentum Master felt like the best choice out of all of them, so he went with it. He looked over at Akari, EV-43 Lightrunner codes in her grasp. "We done here?"

"Yeah. Gray and the others've probably left at this point."

Being left alone on Venus didn't sound all to that appealing to the Vex Guardians, so they grabbed their Ghosts, slapped on their shells (Akari: [Graylight Shell], Yyaggr: [In Fine Omnium Shell]) and transmatted off the ship. Their first sight of the outside world included Atheon and Rei trying to control their Sparrows, nearly crashing into walls and rocks in the process. Drel and Gray were chasing after them in their own Sparrows [Drel: EV-37 Voidstreak, Gray: EV-35 Arcrunner].

Curious as to why their companions were having so much trouble with their Sparrows, Yyaggr and Akari hopped on their own. One quick flick of the throttle told them everything they needed to know.

Think Bugatti Chiron Sport power, multiply that times five and you've got these Sparrows down pat. Twisting the throttle even a tiny bit would send them hopping forwards at speeds most Guardians could only dream of. They figured out the steering faster than throttle control, and that took them 10 minutes. Eventually, after a lot of assistance from Drel and Gray, they were gliding smoothly over Venus.

"So, where exactly are we headed?" Yyaggr asked.

"It's more of a sightseeing trip for you guys than anything," Drel replied. "I figured since you four shut-ins have never seen your home planet before, why not show it to you now."

"If that's the case, then it looks worse than I expected," Atheon deadpanned. "Now I know why Panoptes was so obsessed with nature."

"Panoptes? You mean the guy running Mercury's Infinite Forest?"

"Yep. You ever notice how beautiful some of those simulations are? That's the flora of the planets we've conquered."

"Damn, and here I thought it was your own creativity."

That brought a chuckle out of the Vex. "We're a collective mind, remember? Creativity isn't really our thing."

They turned left, entering the tunnels connected to the Ishtar Academy. The first thing they saw once they arrived was a Guardian and his Ghost scanning a very familiar pillar of non-baryonic streams. "You think we should help him?" Rei asked quietly as they watched the Guardian get surrounded by Vex.

"Nah. He seems alright."

2 minutes later he was dodging Hobgoblin shots. "You think we should help him?" Yyaggr asked quietly as they watched the Guardian get blindsided by a laser.

"Nah. He seems alright."

5 minutes later the Guardian was running away from a Vex Minotaur. He was barking obscenities like a Taken Centurion deploys Axion Darts. "You think we should help him?" asked Akari as they watched the Guardian almost get smashed by said Minotaur.

"Maybe. For now though, he seems alright."

10 minutes later they watched Guardian, now out of ammo, jump onto an Axis Minotaur's back and ride it like a bull, using its shots to pulverize the other Vex. The drawback to this was that he was being electrocuted every second he stayed on the Minotaur. "You think we should help him?" asked a slightly concerned Rei. They watched as he pulled the wiring out the Minotaur's head and jumped off the thing as it fell.

"Nah. Look at him. Sure, he may be burned a bit, but he seems alright."

15 minutes later they watched the Guardian get surrounded by Axis Minotaurs. His helmet, along with most of his armor, had been blown off, revealing his race to be Exo. His gun clicking, the Guardian crumpled onto the wall and could only watch as his death stalked towards him. "Ok, he needs help."

Before she could finish her sentence Rei popped 7 shots into the nearest Vex. They drove straight through it, drawing the attention of its companions. Torch Hammer shots began to fly towards the party as the Axis Minotaurs engaged the new enemy. Yyaggr drew [Apex Predator], downing five in one shot, reloading, then downing 3 more. Atheon was rushing towards the enemy group, [Legend of Acrius] spitting fire and buckshot. Void bolts burst on his armor, leaving it no worse for wear. He simply took the hits and continued running. Gray jumped onto a ledge, his C-HSR [Cabal Heavy Slug Launcher] mowing down anyone that stood in his way. Akari followed his lead, [Hard Light] threatening to bounce out of her hands as she pumped the Vex full of Void lead. That's what it felt like to her, but from the near-dead Guardian's perspective, it looked as though the recoil was non-existent.

Drel sidestepped three Torch Hammer bolts, [The Continental] blazing away. A click pierced her concentration, alerting her that the mag was empty. She leaned backwards, watching a Void bolt fly over where her head had just been, grabbing a fresh mag. It slammed home, a bullet finding its way into the chamber, only to be harshly ejected into the head of a Minotaur. Enraged, it attempted to rush her, then found its legs had been blown off, then its arms. The thing finally gave out, flopping onto the floor just in front of the Warlock. More Vex began to spawn, all of them Majors. Gray switched to his Cabal Slug Launcher, blowing holes through the newcomers. Rei unclipped [Eternity's Edge], parrying a blow that would've sent her flying. She then hacked off the Vex's arm, legs and upper body, all the while deflecting Torch Hammer shots.

One bolt got sent towards the still injured Guardian. He had no chance of dodging and there was no way he could deflect it. At least, not until a purple-gray blur slapped it away. Rei stood in front of the offending Minotaur, redirecting the next five shots before throwing the sword directly into it's core. While the Minotaur tilted, she blinked on top of it, retrieving the blade and hopping onto another Vex. All this in one smooth sequence. As she hacked open the Minotaur with one hand, [Ace of Spades] was drawn with the other. Soon enough, all the Goblins surrounding her were felled.

Yyaggr was hanging off one of the railings, peppering the Vex with rockets. He got bored with that, so he jumped down, drew [The Last Word] and popped off some Vex heads. They rushed at him, Slap Rifles overcharged, but were filled with lead soon after. Yyaggr swung his arm to the left and fired, three Vex blown to pieces before him. He swung to the right, and a few more Vex fell. He twirled the Hand Cannon, jamming it into its holster. [Black Scorpion-4sr] drawn, he lit up three Minotaurs who were attempting to sneak up on Drel. He gave him a nod, and he re-drew [The Last Word] as a group of Hobgoblins teleported right in front of his face.

Gray's C-HST was now glowing a bright red, its barrel smoldering as micro-rockets flew out from inside of it. The chitin-covered minigun razed many a Vex squad before being replaced by his CSL, which began snapping open Vex cores from across the Academy. Akari was at his side covering the staircase, blowing Vex apart with her [Malfeasance], She was about to shoot yet another one when a hand reached out and crushed it for her. Atheon trundled up the stairs, punching apart any Vex he encountered. Not even the Axis Minotaurs could stand in his way, as they too were punched to pieces. Zavala would be proud.

The final few Vex decided to retreat, as there was no foreseeable way to beat their new enemies. Atheon jumped the railing, his boots cracking the ground underneath his feet. "Well now, that was a good arm-up," he remarked, stretching. Akari ignored him, walked over to the still Guardian. His wounds were being taken care of by his Ghost, but it didn't seem as though he'd be moving any time soon. Holes riddled his entire body, with Void energy still visible on some of the wounds he had. To put it bluntly, he looked like Swiss Cheese.

The Exo tilted his head towards her revealing that, like Gray, he was eyeless. Unlike Gray, instead of straps running down his head, he had small, gray horns, along with the spray on his face being red instead of orange. His mouth began glowing, indicating he was talking. She leaned closer, his Ghost moving out of her way. "Who… are you guys?"

Akari though about it. She didn't exactly know what they were. What would you call a mis-matched team of Vex and Hive Hybrids? A random name flew into her head. It was the name of the first Fireteam who had trespassed into her Garden. Needless to say, they were eliminated. Akari turned back to the Exo and replied.

"Fireteam Vault."

 **[Line Break]**

 **A/N: Well, I did say within 5 days. No stats today. I'll organize that into a separate chapter.**


	5. Just Stats

**A/N: You don't have to read this chapter, but it is recommended. Stay toasty.**

 **[Line Break]**

Name: Drel.

Gender: Female.

Age: Unknown [Estimated to be 24].

Height: 5' 9"

Class: Warlock.

Race: Awoken.

 **[Line Break]**

Armor [remember: they all have more extreme versions of their ornaments]—

Helmet: Deathsinger's Gaze.

Gauntlets: Deathsinger's Grips.

Warlock Bond: Stormcaller Bond.

Chest Armor: Harrowed Chasm of Yuul.

Leg Armor: Transversive Steps.

Ghost Shell: Ascendant Shell.

Artifact: None.

 **[Line Break]**

Weapons [in terms of looks are similar to the armor]—

Primary: The Continental.

Secondary: Thorn.

Heavy: Hunger of Crota.

 **[Line Break]**

Sparrow: EV-37 Voidstreak.

Jumpship: Ceres Galliot.

 **[Line Break]**

Name: Gray

Gender: Male.

Age: Unknown.

Height: 6' 6"

Class: Hunter.

Race: Exo.

 **[Line Break]**

Armor: [similar to Drel's but glows blue instead of green]—

Helmet: Harrowed Darkhollow Mask

Gauntlets: Take [Dream-Eater Grasps], but completely cover it in Harrowed chitin [the stuff the (Kings Fall) armor is made of].

Chest Armor: Take [Dream-Eater Vest], but cover it in the same stuff that's on his [Dream-Eater Grasps]. It now has pockets too.

Leg Armor: You know the drill. Take [Ghost Angel], cover with Harrowed Chitin.

Ghost Shell: Consumed Shell.

Artifacts: None.

 **[Line Break]**

Weapons: [this is where it gets interesting…]

Primary: Cabal Slug Launcher[cover that shit in chitin too]

Secondary: Cabal Heavy Slug Thrower. [Gray took this one from Ta'aun, Hand of Oryx. Look up his Grimoire card of you don't know who or what I mean.]

Heavy: Hive Cleaver [Look up his à (Ecthar, Sword of Oryx) weapon. Or just a picture of him to see what I mean.]

 **[Line Break]**

Sparrow: EV-35 Arcrunner

Jumpship: Ceres Galliot.

 **[Line Break]**

Name: Rei.

Gender: Female.

Height: 5' 4".

Age: Unknown.

Race: Vex.

Appearance: Human.

 **[Line Break]**

Weapons—

Primary: Ace of Spades.

Secondary: Transfiguration.

Heavy: Eternity's Edge.

 **[Line Break]**

Armor—

Helmet: Graviton Forfeit.

Gauntlets: Sealed Ahamkara Grasps.

Chest Armor: Vest of the Great Hunt.

Leg Armor: St0mp-E55.

Cloak: Arc Flayer Mantle.

Ghost Shell: Questing Shell.

 **[Line Break]**

Sparrow: S-35 Aeon Glow.

Jumpship: Ceres Galliot.

 **[Line Break]**

Name: Atheon.

Gender: Male.

Age: Unknown.

Height: 6' 4".

Class: Titan.

Race: Vex.

Appearance: Awoken.

 **[Line Break]**

Armor—

Helmet: Pandion Type 1.

Gauntlets: ACD/0 Feedback Fence.

Chest Armor: Vest of the Jade Rabbit.

Leg Armor: Dunemarchers.

Mark: Kell's Mark.

Ghost Shell: Heraldic Shell.

Weapons—

Primary: Parthian Shot.

Secondary: Legend of Acrius.

Heavy: Classical-42.

Jumpship: Ceres Galliot.

Sparrow: EV-50 Mirage.

 **[Line Break]**

Name: Akari.

Age: Unknown.

Gender: Female.

Race: Vex.

Appearance: Exo.

Height: 5' 9".

Class: Titan.

 **[Line Break]**

Armor—

Helmet: Oblivion Helm.

Gauntlets: Synthocepts.

Chest Armor: Annihilating Plate.

Leg Armor: Annihilating Greaves.

Mark: Mark of the Exodus.

Ghost Shell: Graylight Shell.

 **[Line Break]**

Weapons-

Primary: [Hard Light]

Secondary: [Malfeasance]

Heavy: [Steel Sybil Z-14]

 **[Line Break]**

Sparrow: EV-43 Lightrunner.

Jumpship: Ceres Galliot.

 **[Line Break]**

Name: Yyaggr.

Age: Unknown.

Race: Vex.

Appearance: Fallen.

Height: 6' 1".

Gender: Male.

Class: Warlock.

 **[Line Break]**

Weapons—

Primary: The Last Word.

Secondary: Black Scorpion-4sr.

Heavy: Apex Predator.

 **[Line Break]**

Armor—

Helmet: Obsidian Mind.

Gauntlets: [Sunbreaker/Nothing Manacles/Ophidian Aspect Mesh], Claws of Ahamkara.

Chest Armor: Sanguine Alchemy.

Leg Armor: Boots of the Emperor's Minister.

Bond: Bond of the Great Hunt.

Ghost Shell: In Fine Omnium.

 **[Line Break]**

Sparrow: EV-41 Momentum Master.

Jumpship: Ceres Galliot.

 **[Line Break]**

 **You don't have to read this next part, but I won't stop you either.**

 **[Line Break]**

 **Sparrow Upgrades.**

1\. Structure/Armor (Alloy Composite):

Hadium

Relic Crystals

Zeptocyte Cores

Dreadnaught Armor Pieces

2\. Wiring/Hardware (Composite):

SIVA-Infused Sapphire Wiring.

SIVA-infused Plasteel Plating (Casing).

3\. Hydraulics (Composite):

SIVA-infused Plasteel Plating.

Diamond-Hadium Composite.

4\. Power Supply (Synthesis):

Soliton Flare

Etheric Light

Plasma Drive

Ascendant Energy Capsules (Boost).

Radiant Energy Capsules (Boost).

5\. Thruster Design:

Stock Thrusters.

6\. Thruster Components (Composite):

SIVA-Infused Plasteel Plating.

Hadium.

7\. Seating (Mixture):

SIVA-Infused Carbon Fibre

Leather.

 **[Line Break]**

 **Jumpship upgrades:**

1\. Structure/Armor (Alloy Composite):

Hadium.

Relic Crystals.

Zeptocyte Cores.

SIVA-Infused Dreadnaught Armor Pieces.

2\. Wiring/Hardware (Composite Synthesis):

SIVA-Infused Sapphire Wiring.

SIVA-infused Plasteel Plating (Casing).

3\. Hydraulics:

SIVA-infused Plasteel Plating.

Diamond-Hadium Composite.

4\. Armaments:

ASV (Arc-Solar-Void) Auto-Cannon [ASV-AC].

Heavy Plasma Railgun (HPR [Cannot be fired in conjunction with ASV-AC. Can be charged in conjunction with ASV-AC]).

Heavy Armor Piercing Thermite Missiles (HAPTMs).

5\. Shielding Systems.

SIVA-ASV Shielding.

6\. Power Supply (Overall):

Soliton Flare.

Etheric Light.

Emerald Coil (Afterburner Color).

Perfected SIVA Shard (Shielding).

2x ASV Energy Capsule (Shielding, Weapons System).

Ascendant Energy Capsule (Warp Drive, Overall).

Radiant Energy Capsule (Warp Drive, Overall).

Radiant Ascendant Etheric Flare Converter (RAEF-C).

7\. Thruster Design:

Stock Thrusters.

8\. Thruster Components (Composite):

SIVA-Infused:

Plasteel Plating.

Diamond-Hadium Composite.

Dreadnaught Armor Pieces.

9\. Seating (Mixture):

SIVA-Infused Carbon Fibre.

Leather.


	6. Cabal Brutalization Inbound

**A/N: I'm honestly surprised that people are reading this. I'll take it though, so keep reading my shitty fanfic if you are. I'll try to get better at writing over time.**

 **Btw, this chapter's one's hella short, as my motivation lagged a bit.**

 **I don't own Destiny.**

 **Existence is pain.**

 **Please don't hurt me.**

 **[Line Break]**

 **Location: Somewhere near the Moon.**

 **[Line Break]**

"Ok, the Shard is secure. Ready to get the fuck outta here."

"Roger that."

Akari had half the Shard of the Traveler on her back, a Ceres Galliot swinging around in front of her. Its cargo bay open, she tossed the Shard into the ship, then hopped inside next to it. Behind her, three Siphon Wizards watched silently as they left, the second half of the Shard in one of their boney hands. Gray punched the thrusters and they broke orbit, rejoining Drel and the others in space. "How'd the splicing go?"

"We had some cheeky Fallen who tried to interrupt us. But other than that, it went smoothly."

"Good. Next stop: the Reef. Hope our new friend went to the Endless Steps and killed Zydron."

"Guardians in general'll want to test out their new toys in the field. He'll be no different."

 **[Line Break]**

 **12 minutes prior.**

 **Ishtar Academy, Venus.**

 **[Line Break]**

"So," the Guardian said, hands steepled. "You want us to go kill a Minotaur that's even bigger and tougher than the Axis Minotaurs we faced here, then rip off its head to present to the Awoken Queen? All so that we'll be in her debt?"

Ira paused, shell off kilter. "Ok, when you put it like that, it doesn't make all to that much sense. But consider this. If you don't do it, then the Reef stays closed and millions of Guardians miss out on potential loot. Think about it. All that new gear sitting neglected and unused because you didn't kill this one Minotaur?"

That shut him up, but the Ghost kept talking. "With the gear we have now it'd be—"

The green Ghost cut him off. "That won't be a problem." And then she transmatted [Age Old Bond], [Whisper of the Worm] and [Memory Interdict] into his inventory. "There. New, shiny gear."

The Exo stared at their new weapons with barely contained excitement. His Ghost, however, seemed a bit suspicious. "Why did you-"

Ira shushed the Ghost with a flick of her shell. "Take it or leave it."

Grumbling under its breath, the Ghost put the weapons in Inventory, then went off to sulk next to a dead Hobgoblin. The Exo looked at Ira curiously and began to ask a question, but got shushed in the same manner as his Ghost. "Don't worry about it."

"Ok then… if it isn't too much to ask, could you give me some new armor too?"

Ira nodded, then asked, "What's your class?"

"Titan."

"Huh. Thought you might've been a Hunter, what with all your jumping. Anyways, here, have a [Devastation Complex], [Actium War Rig], [Synthocepts], some [Anti-Extinction Greaves] and a [Mark of the Unassailable]. Oh yeah, and a new Sparrow too, this 100% new [Vanishing Point]. Is that good enough for you?"

"Yeah, thanks," he said absently, more focused on the new gear in front of him. Then he began looking for his Ghost, who was now muttering to the Hobgoblin. "I'll try to warn him but will he listen? Nooo. He'll just keep shooting at whatever enemy he sees. Doesn't matter if his primary is based off an immortal creature that can bend reality itself at a whim. Doesn't matter if it's telepathic. He won't care."

"Ghost!"

The small orb whipped around, snapping at his Guardian. "WHAT!"

"Could you put this in the inventory for me? We've got a Gate Lord to kill!"

 **[Line Break]**

 **5 minutes later…**

 **[Line Break]**

"Ok… that's huge. When you said 3 stories high I didn't think it would actually be that high."

"Well, neither did I, but reality is proving otherwise."

The duo stared at the massive Vex as its individual pieces clicked together to form one black Gate Lord. It slammed into the ground, cracking the floor underneath it and causing the Exo to wobble from the shockwave. "You sure you want to do this?" the Ghost asked. "We can always try again la—"

"Nah," the Exo replied. "We're going in balls-to-the-wall." He pointed up at the Gate Lord. "You're dead buddy."

The Minotaur's response? Spam Torch Hammer bolts. The Guardian saw it coming and rolled to the right, dodging the majority of the bolts. Vex spawn orbs began to surround him so he scrambled to higher ground. The Minotaur took three steps forward, arm cocked for a punch. He jumped over the fist, drew [Age Old Bond] and pumped it full of bullets. The hand retracted, and with it came Goblin and Hobgoblin shots. He whipped out [Memory Interdict], smashed a drum mag into the launcher and fired, wiping out most of the ads. Once that was done, he turned back to the Minotaur, whose foot was about to temporal shockwave him into oblivion.

The Exo jumped up and to the side, letting the impact from the smash attack carry him away from the Gate Lord. It was only a temporary respite, however, as the ground seemed to get very close very quickly. Once he hit the ground he rolled to offset the impact. It still hurt like hell, but at least he hadn't broken anything. Pain jolting through every bone in his body, the Guardian picked himself up only to be knocked backwards by a flurry of Void bolts. Once again he rolled to a stop, but this time he jumped behind cover immediately, avoiding the next Void barrage. Footsteps could be heard from behind the small wall, and he peeked out from behind it, firing grenades blindly. Two hit the Minotaur's foot and it toppled over, giving him a brief respite, the key word here being 'brief'.

A small legion of Vex stood behind its fallen body, their rifles charged, grenades primed. The Guardian could only get one word in before the salvo flew his way: "Fuck."

Solar bolts pummeled him, driving him back to cover. 'Man, I really gotta thank Ira for giving me this shit.'

'There won't be enough of you to do that if you don't move! The Gate Lord's starting to get up!'

The Guardian looked above his little wall and, sure enough, the Minotaur was indeed getting up again. The Guardian drew [Whisper of the Worm] and fired three shots into its left arm, i.e., the one it used to hold the Torch Hammer. Said arm went limp, its Torch Hammer falling to the floor with a loud clatter. Then the colossal Vex did something that would haunt the Guardian's every waking moment: it began running. And believe me, nothing is as terrifying as running away from a three story tall enemy.

And so the Exo fled. He didn't look back, nor did need to. The booming footsteps told him all he needed to know. He slipped by any Vex that got in his way, not bothering to shoot them as Zydron would trample them anyway. Then he had an idea. This idea would get him the kill, but there was one small drawback. He turned around, tensed his muscles and jumped onto the Gate Lord's waist, blazing away at the white mind core. This continued for the next three seconds before Zydron swatted the Guardian away, breaking his right arm and mangling his left leg. A normal person would've died from the shock right then and there, but he was a Guardian, and an Exo to boot. So he shoved the pain into a corner, told it to shut its fucking mouth and stood up, [Memory Interdict] cocked and ready.

Radiolaria and Vex limbs flew as the explosive shells tore through the machine legions. Arms blurring, the Exo slammed in another drum, emptied it, then slammed in another. Zydron began chasing him again, but the Exo simply jumped out of reach, still peltering the Gate Lord with grenades. At this point red was all he could see, static was in his ears and he felt nothing. He didn't notice when Zydron flopped over looking like Swiss Cheese. He didn't notice when the Vex retreated, tails between their legs. He did notice when his Ghost knocked him in the head.

Finally snapping out of his battle haze, the Exo did a 360, eyes scanning over the aftermath of the fight. One second. Two seconds. Pain. The Exo curled into a ball, muttering something unintelligible. His Ghost sighed, shaking its shell. "Ok, you're still hazy. Let's just get the head and get out of here."

The Exo uncurled delicately, limped towards the Gate Lord and reached for its head. He grunted, his broken arm lighting up as he ripped off Zydron's head. The Exo's Ghost popped into existence and began repairing the shattered limb. "Wouldn't recommend you put any stress on this arm for a while. I'll take the Gate Lord's head for you."

He nodded, relief flowing through him as the Vex head was transported into his inventory. "Call in the ship. We're going to the Reef."

 **[Line Break]**

 **And we're back in the present…**

 **[Line Break]**

Ira stared at the Guardian questioningly "So? How'd it go?"

"If you call a completely broken arm, multiple snapped ribs and a shit ton of bruised bones an accomplishment, then I'd say we did perfectly. By the way, thanks for the gear. Would've been dead without it."

His Ghost popped into view. "What he won't tell you is that he—"

A hand blurred onto the Ghost, hurling it into the wall of his ship. "So yeah. I'll meet you at the Reef in a bit."

The connection cut, the horned Exo leaned back in his seat, staring at the Vex head on the dashboard next to him. He gave it a flick. 'Bitch.' He gave it another flick. 'Fucker.' He gave it three more flicks, emphasizing them with a curse. He attempted to throw a punch but his abdomen disagreed with the motion. His Ghost dislodged from the wall, wobbling through the air towards him. "The hell was that for?"

The Exo didn't answer. Instead he leaned back in his seat, letting his vision and the pain in his chest fade to black.

 **[Line Break]**

 **30 Minutes Later.**

 **The Reef.**

 **[Line Break]**

"So… these are the trespassers demanding an audience. Me? I see no reason she should be available for whatever washes up at the Reef. But… here we are."

Akari nudged the Guardian. "Go on," she whispered.

The Exo turned back to Uldren's smirking face, resisting the urge to punch it. "We've come to ask for help."

Before Uldren could respond, however, two Fallen Vandals appeared from behind the throne. The Exo pushed one of the Guards, snatching her pistol and raising it towards the Fallen guards. Uldren grabbed the gul-holding arm, pushing a knife to the Guardian's throat. As soon as he did that, [Ace of Spades], [Malfeasance], [The Last Word], [Thorn] and [Legend of Acrius] snapped to his head. The second Guard raised her pistol but was dissuaded by Gray's CSL. Uldren's eye widened as he noticed the array of guns aimed his way. "How…?"

A light yet heavily imposing voice penetrated the stand-off. "It is afraid of the Fallen."

All eyes turned to Mara Sov, suddenly standing before her throne. "It does not understand these ones are mine."

Fireteam Vault retracted their weapons, the Guards watching with astonishment as the guns disintegrated into nothing. Uldren pulled his knife away from the Guardian's throat, and the Guard snatched and re-holstered her briefly stolen pistol. "Apologies… your Grace," Uldren replied, giving the Queen a small bow.

The Exo froze up. He searched for words, but none came out. Her penetrating gaze held him, searched him, made him feel icy yet scalding at the same time. As such, he was still. A flick from Drel snapped him out of his stupor and he stammered, "Oh… uh, I am a Guardian. From Earth. We're searching for the Black Garden." Uldren chuckled at his little slip-up.

"We seek to destroy the Darkness at its Heart."

"You wish to turn it into a battleground. How… unimaginative."

"Do you know where it is?" the Exo asked, getting tired of Uldren and his snide comments.

"Everyone knows where it is. The hard part is getting in." Uldren remarked snidely.

"Can you help us?" the Guardian seethed. If he had eyes, they would be boring holes through the Awoken Prince.

"And why… would we… do that?"

They were now face to face, orange eyes staring into a blank plate of metal. That blank plate was radiating pure anger, and Uldren didn't like it. Hands went to guns again, and the standoff resumed.

"The Queen requests council with her brother." Mara Sov, back at it again with the bomb defusions.

Giving each other one last glare, Uldren skulked back to his sister, kneeling before her. They whispered amongst each other, the Vandals next to them shuffling restlessly. Then Uldren came back towards them. "Yes… yes, that's good. Why not?" He turned back to the Guardian, a shit-eating grin on his face. "We'll make you a key. All we need is the head of a Vex Gate Lord."

The Exo snapped his fingers and Zydron's head smacked into the floor. Mara Sov's eyes widened, Uldren's grin evaporated, the Guards flinched and the Vandals kept shuffling. "Key. Now."

Grumbling under his breath, Uldren stabbed the Gate Lord's head, tearing it open and ripping out its eye. It died as soon as it hit the air and he held it up smugly. "Dead, I'm afraid. A wasted journey."

"Perhaps, but I think these one's… resourceful. We gift it… in sympathy for their Traveler."

Fireteam Vault gave a 'tch' at that. Uldren's eyes widened in disbelief, but he told the Guardian where he needed to go. "Mars. Eighty four North, thirty two East. Meridian Bay." He flung the dead eye at the Exo, who caught it, gaze never leaving Uldren's. In that second, the Awoken Prince swore he saw the Exo grinning.

The Queen stood, indicating that their time was nearly up. "I have shown you benevolence, Guardian. Should the Awoken ever need an ally, I will call upon you… and expect you to answer."

"So we owe you. Got it," the Exo replied, giving her a small bow. Fireteam Vault gave the Queen mini-salutes, and they walked out the room. "Good luck getting through the Exclusion Zone!" Uldren snarked.

The only response he got were seven hands flipping him off.

 **[Line Break]**

 **5 minutes later.**

 **The Reef. Again.**

 **[Line Break]**

"The nerve of those Guardians! Who do they think they are, flipping me off like that! ME! The Prince of the Awoken! Why I ought've ordered their execution right then and there!"

Uldren paced around the room, Mara half-listening to him, her usual level of concentration through many a previous rant. Her brother seemed more agitated than usual. Maybe it was because of the less-than-formal attitude in which both of them were addressed. Maybe it was how he had gotten five guns pointed at his head in less than a quarter second. Maybe, and this was a far-fetched idea, maybe it was because he had been flipped off by not one, not two, not five but _seven_ Guardians. She wasn't listening to his rants this time, however. They were preoccupied by the Hive and Vex she had detected on the six silent Guardians. The way they gave a dismissive 'tch' when she had said the word 'Traveler' was suspicious in of itself. And their armor… no words could be used to describe their armor.

But why were they glaring at her brother so often? As if he had… wronged them all in the past. She could see it in their eyes. The two with the Hive stench seemed peculiarly angry at Uldren. What had he done to get in their bad side, and what would happen if they decided to get retribution? Would her Guard be able to stop them? Would anyone? Their ships were of Awoken origin, as all Galliots were, but even though their ID codes were valid, the pilots they were assigned to were either on leave or in training, not to mention the materials the hull was comprised of. It was almost as if… no, that was preposterous.

However, the one who she was the most interested in was the horned Exo who had spoken to them. She had gazed upon him once and he had clammed up. It amused her, but she wanted to know why he had done so. And another thing. How had they known she would ask for a Gate Lord's head. He produced it as if he had read her mind. It wasn't like they had Gate Lord heads in abundance at the Last City now, did they? And why did he seem so… injured? She shook her head. It was a bit too much to think about, and Uldren was not helping in the slightest. She finally snapped at him to leave, and he did so, albeit hesitantly. Mara sighed, her focus back on the horned Exo who had graced her presence.

'You are an odd one. I think I may be calling on you sooner than expected.'

 **[Line Break]**

 **10 minutes later.**

 **Mars, Exclusion Zone.**

 **[Line Break]**

One mag. Then another. And another. Bullet casing were scattered like raindrops around him along with an equal amount of Cabal corpses. The Exo turned to his right, demolishing a trio of Psions as if he was eating breakfast. Another mag. Two Colossi went down. Another mag. Three Phalanxes.

Fireteam Vault watched the Exo utterly destroy the Cabal in front of him. He was killing so many so fast that they didn't do anything but pop heads off any space turtles that got behind him. They had noticed that he had been silent the entire time they were in FTL Warp, even when provoked. But they didn't know his anger ran to this extent. "Y' know, I wonder if the Ahamkara bones in that gun're gonna wake up from all the kills he's racking up."

"Wouldn't be surprised if they did. Look at him. Betting he'll be a beast in the Crucible."

"Fifty thousand glimmer says he already is."

"You're on."

They cringed as the Exo grabbed a Cabal Centurion by the head, slowly crushing it while the Cabal warrior screamed in pain. Bones could be heard cracking, and a squishing sound permeated the air. The Fireteam stared at the possibly split-personality Exo snapped the Centurion's neck as easily as a twig, moving onto the next Cabal in one swift movement. "Remind me not to piss the guy off," Rei muttered, [Ace of Spades] blasting holes through an approaching Phalanx's shield and chest. "Oh yeah, and what was up with his stuttering once Mara appeared? And another thing: how the fuck did she appear out of nowhere like that? I detected no movement after the Vandals came up. Zero. Nada. Zilch."

"Well, she can enter the Ascendant Realm, so I would think she popped out as soon as we all focused on Uldren. And as for your first question, I have no clue…"

"Speaking of Throne Worlds," Akari interrupted, [Hard Light] blazing away at more space turtles, "I actually didn't have one for myself when I was the Darkness blob. But now that I have an actual physical form, I now can make my own Throne World."

Drel and Gray began clapping, patting her on the back. "Congratulations and welcome to the 'fuck-death' club. Now, if you need to know how to move, manipulate or pimp out your Throne World, call us," the Warlock said, pointing at herself and Gray. "No, seriously. If you don't move your Throne World around from time to time, a sneaky bastard could slink inside and kill you while you're in there, and then merge you World into his own."

"Kinda like ."

"Yes. Exactly like ."

A Solar bolt whizzed by Akari's face, and she pumped the offending Legionary full of Arc rounds. As it fell, its head just so happened to get in the way of the Exo's boot. Needless to say, the head got crushed, Cabal brains sticking onto the sole of his boot as he walked on. "Fuck that's brutal," Drel remarked.

Finally, a massive Centurion jumped down from a Cabal transport ship. Bracus Tho'ourg. The Exo turned back to Fireteam Vault, yelling, "So do I need to kill this guy?"

Gray gave the Exo the go-ahead and he turned back to the Centurion, catching a punch that would've blown his head clean off. Bones began snapping as nearly one ton of pressure was applied to the Cabal's hand. The Exo let go of the now-pulverized hand and grabbed the Bracus by its chest, giving it a hard uppercut to the face. It's helmet cracking, he pummeled the thing until a Psion shot caught him square in the back, loosening his grip and giving the Centurion a chance at escape. And it did, for all of 10 meters. Two sniper shots rang out. One shot went into the head of the Psion who had hit him. The other shattered Tho'ourg's leg armor along with its kneecap. Drel grimaced, as she saw bone fly out of the Centurions leg as the bullet came through. It crashed onto its face, a roar of pain escaping its lips. That was silenced by another sniper bolt. The Exo clipped the elongated gun to his back, drawing [Age Old Bond] and tearing into the Cabal with renewed vigor.

The space turtles began retreating, running away from the humanoid. He tried brushing himself off but just got even more stained. The Exo turned sheepishly towards Gray, waving something in his hand. "Hey, I got this key… my Ghost says it accesses someplace called… The Valley of Kings… huh. Interesting name. Anyways," he said, summoning his Sparrow, "Let's get this over with, yeah?"

 **[Line Break]**

 **A/N: Told you it was gonna be short. I've got three new stories in this head of mine, and I need to get them out. Just like I need to get this one out.**

 **Next chapter's gonna involve more Cabal brutalization.**

 **After I'm finished with D1 Vanilla, this shit's getting a major revision.**

 **I'll leave now.**

 **Stay Toasty.**

 **Stay Toasty.**


End file.
